Julian Assange free: WikiLeaks founder’s legal battle finally ends
Julian Assange is just hours away from starting his new life as a free man with his wife and two young sons in Australia. Follow updates.
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Julian Assange is just hours away from starting his new life as a free man with his wife and two young sons in Australia.
The 52-year-old WikiLeaks founder is hours away from touching down at Canberra Airport, hours after pleading guilty in a US court on the Pacific island of Saipan to one count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents.
A private plane carrying Assange has left the US territory of the Northern Mariana Islands.
WikiLeaks said the plane was bound for Canberra, where Assange is returning after a plea deal with US authorities brought an end to years of legal drama.
His Australian lawyer Jennifer Robinson posted a selfie to her Instagram story with Assange onboard their private plane, captioning it: “We did it- en route home to Aus.”
Once back on home soil tonight, WikiLeaks are due to address the media outside a Canberra hotel at 9:15pm AEST.
Assange walked from court a free man after pleading guilty to a single charge of espionage in a US court on the Pacific island of Saipan, ending an extraordinary 14-year legal battle.
The Australian smiled as he posed for photographers before getting into his waiting car to head to the airport for his flight to Canberra, but did not take questions.
A teary-eyed Assange was emotional in court as Judge Ramona Manglona declared: “This case ends with me here in Saipan.”
The WikiLeaks founder tightened his tie and held his glasses in his hand as Judge Ramona Manglona went through formalities and wished the 52-year-old an early happy birthday for July 3.
“I understand your birthday is next week,” she said. “I hope you will start your new life in a positive manner.”
Speaking outside the court after the hearing, Assange’s Australian lawyer Ms Robinson, said it was “a historic day”.
“It brings forward 14 years of legal battles and finally after 14 years of legal battles, Julian Assange can go home a free man,” she said.
“This also brings to an end a case which has been recognised as the greatest threat to the First Amendment in the 21st century.
“It is a huge relief to Julian Assange, to his friends, family, supporters, to us, and everyone who believes in free speech around the world, that he can now return home to Australia and be reunited with his family.”
WIKIlEAKS SHARES PIC OF ASSANGE HUGGING LAWYER
WikiLeaks have shared a photo of Assange hugging his Australian lawyer Ms Robinson with the caption “just a moment”.
Ms Robinson also shared the candid image to her Instagram with the caption: “He’s free”.
Former Australian Prime Minister and US ambassador Kevin Rudd can be seen smiling in the background.
The image was taken before Assange boarded his flight to Canberra.
Just a moment - pic.twitter.com/5UDPsGcIYG
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 26, 2024
PROSECUTION OF ASSANGE ‘UNPRECEDENTED’
Assange’s American lawyer, Barry Pollack, said Assange would not be taking questions.
“The prosecution of Julian Assange is unprecedented in the 100 years of the espionage act, it has never been used by United States to pursue a publisher, a journalist, like Mr Assange,” Mr Pollack said.
“Mr Assange revealed truthful, newsworthy information, including revealing that the United States had committed war crimes. He has suffered tremendously in his fight for free speech, for freedom of the press, and to ensure that the American public and the world community gets truthful and important newsworthy information.”
He said Assange never should have been charged under the espionage act and engaged in [an] exercise that journalists engage in everyday”.
“It is appropriate for the judge, as she did today, to determine that no additional incarceration of Mr Assange would be fair, appropriate, and it is time for him to be reunited with his family.”
He said Assange was grateful for all of the support that he has received and looks forward to reuniting with his wife and his children and getting back home to Australia.
An Assange t-shirt, hoodie, tank top and long sleeve tee have already gone on sale, which includes an image with the word “Free”.
Free Julian Assange T-shirt
— Shirt Melona (@melonashirt) June 26, 2024
Buy Now: https://t.co/F3qSFdUoMl
Home: https://t.co/sm6CVyWZm3pic.twitter.com/ihuneeGnbt
US EMBASSY REACTS
After the decision, the US Embassy in Canberra sent out a lengthy statement saying the guilty plea concludes a criminal matter that dates back to March 2018.
The embassy made a point of clarifying what separated Assange from news organisations.
“Unlike news organizations that published redacted versions of some of the classified documents that Assange obtained from Manning (Chelsea Elizabeth Manning) and then shared with those organizations, Assange and WikiLeaks disclosed many of the raw classified documents without removing any personally identifying information.
The statement continued: “Specifically, in many instances, the classified documents Manning unlawfully provided to Assange were later released publicly by Assange and WikiLeaks in a raw or unredacted form that placed individuals who had assisted the U.S. government at great personal risk.”
JUDGE ACCEPTS GUILTY PLEA
Judge Manglona accepted the WikiLeaks founder’s guilty plea to a single count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate US national defence information.
She said Assange was entitled to a credit of time served for the entire time he has been imprisoned at Belmarsh — 62 months – as a direct result of the US government seeking his extradition.
Lawyer Matthew McKenzie, for the US government, said the 62 months in Belmarsh was an “appropriate sentence of time served”.
Earlier, before a short recess, when asked how he pleaded, Assange replied: “Guilty to the information.”
Judge Manglona then asked: “Guilty to the sole charge?”
Assange replied: “Yes.”
Judge Manglona then said: “It is the finding of this court … that the plea of guilty is now accepted.”
Assange will fly to Canberra within hours and is due to arrive this evening.
“Expected to depart in 2 hours, 58 minutes. To Canberra, Australia,” whistleblower website WikiLeaks said in a social media post, as Assange faced court.
‘WELCOME DEVELOPMENT’: PM HAILS PLEA HEARING
Earlier, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed the plea deal hearing as a “welcome development”.
“This is a welcome development but we recognise as well that these proceedings are sensitive and should be respected,” he told reporters in Canberra.
“This isn’t something that has happened in the last 24 hours. This is something that has been considered, patient, worked through, in a calibrated way, which is how Australia conducts ourselves internationally.”
Assange was supported in court by Ms Robinson and Kevin Rudd, Australia’s ambassador to the US, who he conferred with during a short recess.
Mr Rudd, sat directly behind Assange in court with Stephen Smith, the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
ASSANGE ENTERS GUILTY PLEA
When asked by the judge to “explain what it is you did” to constitute the charge for which he is pleading guilty, Assange said: “Working as a journalist I encouraged my source to provide information that was said to be classified in order to publish that information but I accept that it was … a violation of the espionage statute.”
He continued: “I believe the first amendment and the espionage act are in contradiction with each other but I accept that it would difficult to win such a case given all the circumstances.”
At the beginning of the hearing, Judge Manglona read out the charge against Assange, of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US documents.
When asked if he would plead guilty or not guilty, the WikiLeaks founder leaned towards his microphone and replied: “Guilty to the information.”
The court heard that Assange must instruct WikiLeaks to destroy the information and provide an affidavit that he has done so and the US lawyers are satisfied that he has done this
Assange told the judge he had read “at great length” and signed the plea agreement while at London’s Stansted airport on June 24.
HEARING GETS UNDERWAY
After he was sworn in by the judge, Assange spoke his first words in court.
“My name is Julian Paul Assange,” he told the court, spelling out his name.
Assange, wearing a black suit and ochre-coloured tie with his hair slicked back, arrived earlier at the US Federal Courthouse court in a white van with Mr Rudd.
Assange’s vehicle was accompanied by two black SUVS on the drive from the Saipan International Airport after he landed in his private jet.
After leaving the airport, Assange stopped off at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan for a breakfast.
Julian has arrived at the federal court house in Saipan.
— Stella Assange #FreeAssangeNOW (@Stella_Assange) June 25, 2024
I watch this and think how overloaded his senses must be, walking through the press scrum after years of sensory depravation and the four walls of his high security Belmarsh prison cell.
pic.twitter.com/BzgkpWPXdy
Outside the court, he was greeted by a throng of media but gave no comment.
Amid the frenzy, one US journalist asked Assange if he preferred the warm weather of Saipan to the cold climate of London, where he spent five years imprisoned in the notorious Belmarsh jail.
Assange’s wife, Stella, posted a video on X showing her husband arriving at court and a touching statement showing her concern for his welfare.
“I watch this and think how overloaded his senses must be, walking through the press scrum after years of sensory deprivation and the four walls of his high security Belmarsh prison cell,” she posted.
SUPPORTERS TRACK FLIGHT
Thousands of supporters across the world had been tracking Assange’s chartered jet since he left London’s Stansted Airport on Tuesday to see that it landed safely.
Julian has arrived at the federal court house in Saipan.
— Stella Assange #FreeAssangeNOW (@Stella_Assange) June 25, 2024
I watch this and think how overloaded his senses must be, walking through the press scrum after years of sensory depravation and the four walls of his high security Belmarsh prison cell.
pic.twitter.com/BzgkpWPXdy
“Please follow #AssangeJet, we need all eyes on his flight in case something goes wrong,” Stella Assange tweeted overnight.
Flight VJ199 plane touched down at 6.16am AEST in Saipan, which is in the same time zone as the east coast of Australia.
Flight Radar confirmed the Vista Jet was its most tracked flight of the past 24 hours.
The islands are a territory of the US located 9,500km from the American mainland but just 3000km from Australia which Assange’s legal team chose as a strategic place to have his plea deal finalised.
London-based Australian human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson, legal adviser to Assange, was on the flight with him.
The go-to barrister originally from Berry in NSW, has fronted high profile cases including actress Amber Heard.
“She (was) with Julian on the flight with him and will be in court with him every step of the way,” said a colleague at her office at her Doughty Street Chambers.
WIFE’S PLEA FOR FLIGHT FUNDS
Stella Assange has issued an online plea on X, formerly known as Twitter, for help to repay the Australian government $783,000 for her husband’s charter flight.
It was also shared on the WikiLeaks account on X.
“In addition, and after 14 years of detention, including five years in maximum security prison, Julian’s health is in dire need of recovery,” the fundraiser reads.
“We are launching an emergency appeal to seek donations to help him cover the flight debt and substantial funds to ensure his recovery and wellbeing and safety upon his arrival.”
HOPES FOR ‘ORDINARY LIFE’ IN AUSTRALIA
Assange’s father hopes his son will take a year off to appreciate “the beauty of ordinary life” as the WikiLeaks founder is hours from touching down in Australia.
Speaking to the Today show on Wednesday morning, John Shipton said he wanted his son to feel the sand of a beach between his toes.
“Julian hasn’t been home in 16 years. So it’s really a joyous day for us,” Mr Shipton said.
Questioned on what Mr Assange would likely do once he was officially a free man, Mr Shipton said he hoped his son would learn to appreciate “the beauty of ordinary life”.
“Learning again how to walk along the beach and feel the sand come through your feet. And playing with his kids and learning how to have the patience to play with your kids for a few hours. That sort of thing. Ordinary life really.”
ASSANGE ‘VERY EXCITED’ AHEAD OF HEARING
Appearing on Channel 7’s Sunrise, Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, said Assange was “very excited” in the lead up to the flight.
He earlier jokingly made fun of the timing of his brother’s release, which coincided with game two of the State of Origin.
Assange was born in Townsville, Queensland and is a Maroons fan.
The image posted on X featured Assange’s face at the centre, with a collage of Maroons players and fans in the background.
It had text on the image which read: “You can’t keep a Queenslander in his cage one day before the State of Origin.”
“He was very excited about getting on that plane and making the long journey back to Australia, as all of his family, as we were as well, very overwhelmed, actually, overwhelmed, but also a little bit anxious now, just seeing the footage from Saipan and hoping everything goes well there, because that’s the last hurdle that Julian has to get over before he takes a six-hour flight back to Australia,” Mr Shipton said.
Mr Shipton said the freedom plan was “a neat solution.”
“I think between Julian and the Australian Government, they came up with this plan to get him back to Australia safely, and it was a plan that everybody agreed on, both the US and the Australian Government and also Julian.
“It is a US jurisdiction. So it is governed by US law. There’s actually big military bases in Guam, which is just nearby. So I think it’s quite a neat solution. It’s only six hours from Australia.
“He’s able to put his plea in there and have it accepted by a judge and then come back here on the way back to Australia, and not take a risk of landing on the US mainland and being trapped there for the rest of his life.”
Mr Shipton added he was anxious until the court proceedings were done.
“I think there’s always … you know, when these parts of the process happen, there’s always a little bit of anxiety,” Mr Shipton said.
“But I think everything is going to go smoothly and we’ll have Julian back home with us, back on Australian soil, in probably just a few hours.”
He said the Prime Minister, the ambassador, Kevin Rudd and the UK high commissioner Stephen Smith “have been working very hard to make sure that Julian gets home safely.” “Australia has been the guarantor in this whole equation between the UK and the United States, to make sure that Julian is returned to Australia, and I think that’s really showing the will of the Australian people as well.
TOURISM CHIEF WELCOMES FRENZY
The Northern Marianas’ tourism chief hopes Assange’s unexpected decision to choose Saipan as the venue to plead guilty under the US Espionage Act will attract more tourists to the area.
Mr Concepcion hopes the media frenzy brought about by Assange’s arrival will translate to a buzz that would eventually attract more tourists to the region, which is composed of three main islands — Saipan, Tinian, and Rota — and the scene of fierce battles between Allied forced and Japan during World War II.
“As they say, there’s no such thing as bad publicity,” he said.
“I do think that because of the massive attention Saipan is getting, we will be seeing an increase in media inquiries and visits in the immediate future.”
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