WikiLeaks founder Assange back to Australia as a 'free man'
13:18, 26/06/2024, Wednesday
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Julian Assange lands in Canberra late Wednesday, free after pleading guilty to charge of violating US Espionage Act at a court in Saipan Island
A “calm and free” Julian Assange returned home to Australia after 14 years of detention over espionage charges by the US.
The WikiLeaks founder pleaded guilty to a felony charge, ending a years-long stalemate with the US government.
His plane landed in Canberra late Wednesday evening, local time, according to WikiLeaks.
Early today, Assange appeared in a courtroom on the US Pacific Island territory of Saipan in the Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the Western Pacific Ocean near his native Australia.
Assange pleaded guilty to a felony charge of violating the Espionage Act after he was accused of obtaining and publishing classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010.
While entering the courtroom in a black suit, the WikiLeaks founder did not respond to reporters' questions.
Journalists covering the event said Assange was “calm.”
Outside the courtroom, Assange's US attorney Barry Pollack said: “We firmly believe Mr Assange never should have been charged under the Espionage Act.”
“Julian walks out of Saipan federal court a free man. I can't stop crying,” his wife Stella said on X.
He was released Monday from the Belmarsh maximum security prison following bail by the High Court in London before boarding a flight at Stansted Airport at 5 p.m. local time.
The plane carrying Assange landed Tuesday at Don Mueang International Airport in the Thai capital Bangkok to refuel before heading to Saipan.