WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange stepped off a private jet in Canberra, Australia late Wednesday night local time, freeing himself after accepting a plea deal with a US court.
Julian Assange flew from the US territory of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands to the Australian capital of Canberra on Wednesday. His jet, which flew to the US territory from the UK, where he was released on Monday, via Bangkok to appear in federal court, finally landed in Australia at around 7:30pm local time (10:30am BST, 5:30am EST).
His family greeted him on the runway, but by his own claim, the first person to speak to Mr Assange after the plane landed was a phone call with the Australian prime minister. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation Anthony Albanese, leader of Australia’s left-wing government, said Assange had described his return to his native Australia as a “surreal and happy moment”.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange descends the steps of an aircraft after arriving at Canberra Airport in Canberra, June 26, 2024. He pleaded guilty in a US court in Saipan to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate US defence information. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returned to Australia as a free man on June 26 after pleading guilty to leaking US defence secrets in a deal that opened the door to his London prison cell. (Photo by William West/AFP) (Photo by William West/AFP via Getty Images)
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange waves as he arrives at Canberra airport after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate US defence information in a US court in Saipan on June 26, 2024. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returned to Australia on June 26 to begin life as a free man after pleading guilty to leaking US defence secrets in a deal that opened the door to his London prison cell. (Photo by William West/AFP) (Photo by William West/AFP via Getty Images)
After disembarking from the plane, Assange raised his hands in a salute and waved as he made his way to the terminal at the military air base.
Assange pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information as part of a plea deal he struck in the Northern Mariana Islands, a federal territory of the United States, without ever setting foot on U.S. soil. The agreement appears to have brought an end to a legal battle that has dragged on for nearly 14 years since Assange released a trove of intelligence documents through WikiLeaks. Assange argued that the documents were in the public interest and protected by the First Amendment, but the U.S. government disagreed and has been trying to extradite him ever since.
During that time, Assange was under house arrest, resisted an extradition order to Sweden on rape charges (which he denied and the case was later dropped), lived as a political refugee in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years, and then spent five years in a maximum security prison in the UK.
Julian Assange’s jet lands in Bangkok, en route to US offshore courthttps://t.co/BXAGRFgmAO
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 25, 2024
