The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has been released from prison in the United Kingdom and is en route to Australia following his agreement to plead guilty to a single charge under the US espionage law.
Assange, 52, faced charges for conspiring to obtain and disclose national defense information.
The US maintained that the leaked WikiLeaks files, which included details about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, posed risks to lives.
For the past five years, Assange was imprisoned in the UK, resisting extradition to the US.
He also faced allegations of rape and sexual assault in Sweden, which he denied. He spent seven years in Ecuador’s London embassy, claiming that extradition to Sweden would lead to his transfer to the US.
The Swedish case was dropped in 2019 due to the elapsed time since the original complaint, but UK authorities subsequently detained him for failing to surrender to the courts for the Swedish extradition.
According to CBS, Assange will not serve time in US custody and will receive credit for his incarceration in the UK. A letter from the US Justice Department confirms his return to Australia.
On X, WikiLeaks announced that Assange left Belmarsh prison after 1,901 days in a cell. He was released at Stansted airport in the afternoon, where he boarded a flight back to Australia.
WikiLeaks shared a video, purportedly showing Assange in jeans and a blue shirt, being driven to Stansted before boarding a plane. The BBC could not independently verify the footage.
Stella Assange, Julian’s wife, expressed gratitude to supporters on X, acknowledging their efforts over the years.
She later described the days leading up to the US deal as “touch-and-go” and “non-stop,” with a whirlwind of emotions.
The deal involves Assange pleading guilty to one charge under the Espionage Act, to be finalized in a court in the Northern Mariana Islands on June 26.
These islands, a US commonwealth, are closer to Australia than other US federal courts.
Stella emphasized that the agreement ensures Assange’s freedom upon judicial approval. She mentioned the family’s focus on his health, reconnecting with nature, and finding privacy.
She also revealed that their two children, currently in Australia, are unaware of his impending release. She told them they were visiting family and had a “big surprise” waiting.
Stella explained the need for discretion, as children could inadvertently reveal the news.
An Australian government spokesperson told Agence France-Presse that the case had “dragged on for too long.” Assange’s attorney, Richard Miller, declined to comment, and the newsmen are awaiting a response from his US-based lawyer.
Assange and his legal team have long argued that the case was politically driven.
In April, US President Joe Biden considered Australia’s request to drop the prosecution.
In a significant development the following month, the UK High Court allowed Assange to appeal against his extradition, challenging US trial assurances and potential free speech infringements. Stella urged the Biden administration to abandon what she called a “shameful prosecution.”
Initially, US prosecutors sought to try Assange on 18 counts, mainly under the Espionage Act, for publishing classified US military and diplomatic documents related to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
WikiLeaks, founded by Assange in 2006, claims to have published over 10 million documents, with the US government describing it as one of the largest leaks of classified information in history.
In 2010, WikiLeaks released a video showing a US military helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians, including two Reuters journalists.
One of Assange’s key collaborators, US Army analyst Chelsea Manning, was sentenced to 35 years in prison before her sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in 2017.
Assange, who has rarely been seen publicly during his legal battles, has reportedly suffered from health issues, including a minor stroke in prison in 2021.
