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27-06-2024
CANBERRA: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has landed in Australia, after walking free from a US court.
He hugged his wife and father at the airport as a small group of supporters cheered his arrival.
He pleaded guilty to one charge in the court in the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday, bringing a years-long case to an end.
Assange was pursued by US prosecutors for publishing secret military information, and feared a long sentence in a high-security US prison.
Last week, he signed a deal with the US that would see him plead guilty to one charge, instead of the 18 he was originally facing.
Assange left the UK on Monday after spending five years in prison fighting extradition to the US.
After being freed from a five-year stint in Belmarsh prison in the UK, Assange left Stansted Airport on Monday evening (leaving the UK’s jurisdiction at 18:46, according to a court document)
He then flew to Bangkok, Thailand, where his private jet refueled
From there, it was an eastwards hop to the US territory of the Northern Mariana Islands where, on Wednesday morning, he pleaded guilty to one charge in a US district court
Finally, Assange landed in Canberra, Australia at 19:37 local time on Wednesday and the price of this worldwide, multi-leg trip? $520,000 (US) according to his campaign.
The Australian government met the cost, but the Assange campaign will repay the sum and as a reminder Stella Assange says her husband was “not permitted” to make the journey on commercial flights.
Here are some more lines from the Australian prime minister’s news conference.
Anthony Albanese thanks the UK and the US for their assistance, saying he is “very pleased” the case is over.
He confirms that he spoke to Assange over the phone as the plane landed, but has not met him face-to-face.
“I was quite pleased to be the first person here he spoke with,” says Albanese, adding that Assange was “very generous in his praise of the Australian government’s efforts”.
He does not give any details of where Assange is heading, saying the Wikileaks founder has “been through a considerable ordeal, it’s up to him when he makes a statement”.
Albanese is also asked if the plea deal will affect US-Australia relations.
“We have a very positive relationship with the United States,” the PM says. “I regard President Biden as a friend, I regard their relationship as being absolutely central.”
Asked why he had “staked so much” to bring Julian Assange home, Albanese says: “I believe in standing up for Australian citizens.”
He adds: “As prime minister of Australia, you have the opportunity to make a difference… I’ve said repeatedly across a range of areas, I’m not here to occupy the space.”
Earlier, Julian’s wife Stella said she would meet her husband at the airport in Canberra as the plane began its descent, Wikileaks shared this picture of Julian Assange on the phone to his wife.
Julian Assange’s wife, Stella, is speaking to the Assange campaign’s live stream on YouTube.
She says she’s “elated, excited, exhausted”, and is getting ready to meet her husband at the airport in Canberra. (Int’l News Desk)
