VALENCIA (EP). The High Court of London released the founder of Wikileaks, J., on bail this Monday.Julian Assangeafter an agreement with the United States Government in which he pleads guilty to a charge of espionage in exchange for a sentence that is equivalent to the more than five years he has been in a maximum security prison in the United Kingdom.
“Julian Assange is free. He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of June 24, after having spent 1,901 days there. He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released on Stansted airport in the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and left the United Kingdom,” reads a Wikileaks statement published on its X social network account.
Thus, the organization has thanked all the support received to achieve the freedom of Assange, who is on his way to Australia, his country of origin, where he will be reunited with both his wife, Stella Assange, and his children, who “have only known his father behind bars”, denouncing that he was in solitary confinement 23 hours a day in a 2×3 meter cell.
“This is the result of a global campaign that has encompassed grassroots organizers, press freedom advocates, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations. This created the space for a long period of negotiations with the United States Department of Justice, which has led to an agreement that has not yet been formally closed,” Wikileaks added.
Likewise, he has published a video in which Assange is seen free and boarding a plane at 5:00 p.m. (local time) on Monday at the aforementioned airport.
Assange is scheduled to appear in U.S. federal court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean, where he would plead guilty to a charge under the Espionage Act of conspiring to obtain and disseminate classified information, according to court documents. collected by the British newspaper Guardian.
The extradition request would later be withdrawn and Assange would not face any further charges, which would lead to his release and his trip to Australia, given that a five-year sentence already served during his period in prison in the United Kingdom would have been agreed. The choice of the Northern Mariana Islands would have taken place due to Assange’s refusal to travel to the continental United States and its proximity to Australia.
However, the agreement reached must still be approved by a judge. Assange is already traveling to Saipan for a hearing that will take place on Wednesday, around 1:00 a.m., in mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands, according to the district court of the Northern Mariana Islands on its website. Web.
The plane carrying the journalist has made a stop in the capital of Thailand, Bangkok, apparently to refuel, according to Flight Radar, which adds that this charter flight is scheduled to have Saipan as its next stop.
“The case has dragged on too long”
The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, has stressed that the Executive “is aware” that Assange “has legal proceedings scheduled in the United States.” “These procedures are crucial and delicate. Since these procedures are underway, it is not appropriate to make detailed comments,” she maintained.
“I will say, however, that the Australian Government has continued to provide consular assistance to Assange,” he stated before Parliament, before indicating that the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Stephen Smith, “traveled with Assange when he left the United Kingdom.” Likewise, he has insisted that “he has been very clear” about the fact that “regardless of people’s opinion of Assange’s activities, the case has dragged on too long.”
“There is nothing to gain from his continued incarceration and we want him to return home to Australia. We have defended Australia’s interests using all appropriate channels to achieve a positive result,” explained Albanese, who stressed that he will have “more than say” once “the procedures have been concluded”. “I hope it’s very soon,” she concluded.
Likewise, the Australian Foreign Minister, Penny Wonghighlighted that Albanese has addressed this case over the last two years with the president of the United States, Joe Bidenand the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunakand has insisted that “the prime minister was very clear about the priority he gave or gives to the Assange case”, as reported by the Australian television network ABC.
It should be noted that the Australian Government has been pressuring the United States to allow Assange to return to the country and, although the White House had refused to speak publicly about it, US President Joe Biden even expressed in April that he was considering Canberra’s requests.
Julian Assange on his release from prison. Photo: WIKILEAKS/PA WIRE/DPAFamily reactions
Assange’s wife Stella, has applauded that “Julian is free.” “Words cannot express our immense gratitude to you. You, those who have mobilized for years to make this a reality. Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she noted on her account on X.
Assange’s parents have also expressed their joy and relief at the news that their son’s “ordeal” is “coming to an end”, and have thanked all those who have worked for his release from those who have used him. to “push their own agendas.”
“I am grateful that my son’s ordeal is finally coming to an end. This shows the importance and power of quiet diplomacy. The last 14 years have obviously taken their toll on me as a mother, so I want to thank you in advance for respecting my privacy,” he declared. Christine Assange.
The father, John Shiptonhas celebrated that his son will be able to “enjoy a normal life with his family and his wife” after having spent 15 “of his most productive years in some form of incarceration or another.”
Assange was arrested by British authorities on April 11, 2019, after leaving the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he remained a refugee for almost seven years. Since then, he has been in a maximum security prison, under an arrest warrant issued from the United States.
At the end of May, the High Court in London ruled in favor of the Wikileaks founder to allow him to appeal against his extradition order to the North American country, where it was feared that he would face a battery of charges that could involve up to 175 years in prison.
The journalist has defended at all times that the information revealed in 2010 about government corruption and human rights abuses served to publicize war crimes committed by the United States.
The UGT Journalists’ Association welcomes the agreement
On the other hand, the UGT Journalists Group (AGP-UGT) has welcomed the agreement reached between Julian Assange and the United States. “This ends 14 years of persecution, both judicial and political, that Assange has suffered from the United States after the revelation of the Wikileaks papers,” the organization stated.
As noted by UGT, Julian Assange has “always” defended that the publication of the thousands of reports, classified as secret by the North American administration, was carried out “for the public interest and for the sake of freedom of information and expression and that is why their release This is great news even though it took so many years to happen.
“During all this time, Assange’s cause was the cause of defending freedom of expression and the right of citizens to access truthful information in the world,” he concluded.
