Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, returned to Australia on Wednesday after a 14-year legal ordeal. He arrived at Canberra airport, where he was warmly greeted by his wife, Stella, his father, John Shipton, and a crowd of supporters.
A video captured Assange disembarking from a private jet, waving to the media, and then embracing Stella, lifting her off the ground in an emotional reunion. He then hugged his father before proceeding into the terminal with his legal team.
Earlier that day, Assange had left a US District Court in Saipan as a free man after pleading guilty to a single charge under US espionage law. As part of the agreement, Assange will destroy certain information published by WikiLeaks. His anticipated sentence is five years and two months, taking into account his time spent in a British prison resisting extradition.
Assange’s legal saga spanned over a decade, during which he endured more than five years in a high-security British jail and seven years under asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy in London. His challenges stemmed from extradition requests by Sweden over sexual assault allegations and later by the US, where he faced 18 charges related to WikiLeaks’ publication of classified US military documents in 2010 concerning the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
During a hearing in Saipan, Assange pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified national defense documents. He maintained that he operated under the belief that his actions were protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees free speech.
Jennifer Robinson, Assange’s lawyer in the UK and Australia, expressed gratitude to the Australian government for facilitating Assange’s release.
Julian Assange walks free.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 26, 2024
Photograph: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters pic.twitter.com/7S9Vlj9lws
