After having formalized his freedom, the journalist and founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange arrived in his hometown of Canberrawhere he was received by his father and his wife, with whom he embraced in an emotional hug followed by a kiss that was broadcast live on various international media channels.
“Julian leaves the Saipan federal court a free man. I can’t stop crying”wrote in X Stella Assange, the Swedish-Spanish wife of the Australian activist who this morning pleaded guilty to espionage in a court in the Northern Mariana Islands, in exchange for his freedom.
The activist left the United States on Wednesday on a private plane and arrived in the capital of his country, Australia.after a seven-hour flight, 14 years of arbitrary detention in the United Kingdom and 5 years in a maximum security prison for his investigations.
Assange left the plane shortly after landing dressed in a dark suit, with a white shirt and tie, and With his fist raised he greeted dozens of media and followers who were waiting and cheering for him at the airport.
It plans to offer a press conference at a hotel in the Australian capital after a long trip since he left London on Monday, and which led him to make a technical stop in Bangkok on Tuesday, before flying to the Northern Mariana Islands to formalize his freedom today.
“Julián has returned home to Australia,” stressed the official WikiLeaks account.the site created by him and through which he published in 2010 with the largest leak of classified documents that questioned Washington’s role in the world by revealing attacks on civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the mistreatment of prisoners in Guantánamo, among other issues.
The Australian was also received by his father, the Australian architect John Shipton, who was with Assange’s wife, a woman who was part of his legal team. He met her during her stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London (2012-2019), a period in which they had her two children (Gabriel in 2017 and Max in 2019).
He Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who mediated for Assange’s release, also reiterated his satisfaction with the release agreement of the activist. “We have been committed and have advocated for Australia’s interests, using all appropriate avenues to achieve a positive outcome,” he said during a press conference.
Assange, 52, left the high-security Belmarsh prison in London on Monday after arriving at an agreement with the United States Department of Justice and boarded a plane to the Northern Mariana Islands with a stopover in Bangkok on Tuesday.
This morning, in court in the Mariana Islands, Assange pleaded guilty to a single criminal conspiracy charge. to obtain and disclose classified United States documents.
Judge Ramona Villagomez Manglona accepted the terms agreed between the United States Department of Justice and Assange’s defense. He sentenced Assange to 62 months in prison, recognizing the time already served in the high-security Belmarsh prison (United Kingdom), for which he was released.
The Australian’s defense requested that the hearing be held in this US territory due to its proximity to Australia and because Assange did not want to travel to the continental United States.
After the leak, Sweden issued an arrest warrant on sexual abuse charges, which were later withdrawn. Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012, until he was arrested by British authorities in 2019, spending the last five years in a high-security prison.
