Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is returning to his homeland of Australia after being freed from a British prison on a plea deal. For more than a decade, the 52-year-old has been fighting extradition to the US over espionage charges for obtaining and publishing classified information. This week, he agreed to plead guilty as part of a deal with US prosecutors, ending his imprisonment in the UK and paving the way for his return to Australia.
“WikiLeaks published groundbreaking stories of government corruption and human rights abuses, holding the powerful accountable for their actions. As editor-in-chief, Julian paid severely for these principles, and for the people’s right to know. As he returns to Australia, we thank all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom.” Wikileaks posted on social media.
Australia has long called for the US to end its pursuit of Mr. Assange. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has directly raised the issue with US President Joe Biden and in September, politicians from all sides of Australia’s political spectrum converged on Washington to lobby American decision makers.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham welcomed the decision. “We have consistently said that the US and UK justice systems should be respected. We welcome the fact that Mr. Assange’s decision to plead guilty will bring this long running saga to an end.”
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, who was part of the Washington delegation, said he was encouraged, but warned politicians to remain cautious as the legal process was ongoing. “We’re in the process of a 1500-metre race, we don’t stop and start waving at the crowd on two-and-a-half laps, we wait to the end of the race,” he advised.
Mr. Assange’s wife Stella was elated. “Words cannot express our immense gratitude,” she posted on social media. Bring Julian Assange Home campaigner Antony Loewenstein said his release was “the best news imaginable. He’s a journalist, he hasn’t hurt a soul, hasn’t hurt anybody, hasn’t killed anybody, hasn’t done any harm to anybody. I’m absolutely relieved that he’s finally out,” he told Sky News.
Under the US deal, Mr. Assange agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents, according to filings in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in Micronesia. He is due to be sentenced at a hearing on the biggest island of Saipan on Wednesday (June 26).
Mr. Assange had vowed never to set to foot on US soil. He is expected to be sentenced to the 62 months he has already spent in a UK prison, and be allowed to return to his native Australia immediately after his sentencing.
In April at the White House, President Biden told reporters he was considering Australia’s request to drop the charges against Mr. Assange. Prosecutors wanted to put him on trial for publishing military documents about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, which authorities said had damaged national security and endangered the lives of US agents.
Julian Assange was arrested in the UK in 2010 on a separate matter and took refuge in Ecuador’s embassy in London. He was taken from the embassy and sent to London’s Belmarsh prison in 2019.
With Australian Associated Press (AAP)
