First look: Julian Assange inside plane to freedom

June 25, 2024 14:50

Julian Assange inside the plane at a layover in Bangkok. @WikiLeaks

Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange, who has been fighting against his extradition to the US on espionage charges for over a decade, has been freed from prison and flown out of the UK under a plea deal with the American authorities.

The 52-year-old Australian national was lodged at Belmarsh high-security prison in London since 2019 when he was taken into custody from the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he had sought asylum. It was revealed overnight on Monday that he has been freed. Assange will return to Australia, UK media reports said, citing a letter from the US Justice Department.

He was charged with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information. In return for pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information, the activist will be sentenced to time served, 62 months time already spent in a British prison, according to court documents.

After a judge formally accepts this plea, Assange will be free to return to Australia, where his wife and children have already flown to.

In a post on X, WikiLeaks said Assange left Belmarsh after being granted bail by the High Court and was soon at Stansted Airport, where he boarded a plane and left the UK.

"After more than five years in a 2x3 metre cell, isolated 23 hours a day, he will soon reunite with his wife, Stella Assange, and their children, who have only known their father from behind bars," the organisation said.

His wife, Stella Assange, also took to social media, sharing a video montage of her husband in a car and then boarding a plane. "Julian is free!!!! Words cannot express our immense gratitude to YOU - yes YOU, who have all mobilised for years and years to make this come true. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU," she said.

She also shared an image on X of her husband video-calling her from Stansted airport on Monday. Assange's plea and sentencing are scheduled for Tuesday evening UK time in Saipan, one of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The hearing is taking place in the US Commonwealth territory because of Assange's opposition to travelling to one of the 50 US states and the court's proximity to Australia.

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