Julian Assange leaves US soil, headed for Canberra after guilty plea
Julian Assange has left US soil, now a free man and destined for Australia after pleading guilty to a charge relating to the leak of classified documents.
Julian Assange has left US soil and is now headed for Australia.
After pleading guilty to one charge under the US Espionage Act of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information, he is now free of extradition.
Mr Assange left the remote US territory of the Northern Mariana Islands a few moments after 1pm AEST on Wednesday, bound for Canberra by private jet.
Outside court after the plea was entered, Mr Assange smiled but did not respond to questions from reporters as he made his way into a car, bound for the airport.
Between the court hearing wrapping up and the jet whisking Mr Assange away, his Australian and UK lawyer Jennifer Robinson said the saga was over.
“Today is a historic day. … 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.”
Ms Robinson thanked Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
US ambassador Kevin Rudd and high commissioner in London, Stephen Smith, were also thanked.
“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,” Ms Robinson said outside court.
Mr Albanese told parliament after the finalisation of proceedings that he welcomed the end of the saga.
“Regardless of your views about his activities and they will be varied, Mr Assange’s case has dragged on for too long,” Mr Albanese told the chamber during question time on Tuesday.
“I have said repeatedly that there was nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration.
“ I am pleased that he is on his way home to Australia to reunite with his family here.”
Mr Albanese pointed to his government’s diplomatic efforts to lobby for Mr Assange’s release.
“We have used all appropriate channels, this outcome has been the product of careful, patient and determined work. Work I am very proud of.
“This is what standing up for Australians around the world looks like. It means getting the job done, getting results and getting outcomes.”
‘Prohibited from US without permission’
The US Department of Justice spelled out Mr Assange’s crime in a press release issued following the sentence.
“Julian P. Assange, 52, the founder of WikiLeaks, pleaded guilty today to conspiring with Chelsea Manning, at that time a US Army intelligence analyst, to unlawfully obtain and disclose classified documents relating to the national defence,” the office said in a statement.
“After obtaining classified national defence information from Manning, and aware of the harm that dissemination of such national defence information would cause, Assange disclosed this information on WikiLeaks.
“The guilty plea concludes a criminal matter that dates back to March 2018 when Assange was first indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia.
“Following the imposition of sentence, he will depart the United States for his native Australia. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Assange is prohibited from returning to the United States without permission.”
Eye-watering cost of flight to freedom
The final dash to freedom will cost the WikiLeaks founder $780,000.
Mr Assange flew to Saipan, a remote western Pacific US territory in the Northern Mariana Islands, to accept a plea deal to free him and return to Australia.
His wife Stella Assange says the long-detained father could not fly across the world for the hearing on commercial flights.
“Julian’s travel to freedom comes at a massive cost: Julian will owe $US520,000 which he is obligated to pay back to the Australian government for (the) charter flight,” she posted to social media.
Imagine. From over 5 years in a small cell in a maximum security prison. Nearly 14 years detained in the UK.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 25, 2024
To this.
For the "privilege" Julian Assange must pay over half a million US dollars. Please help if you can: https://t.co/bBkYB5mycE #AssangeJet pic.twitter.com/Qau948K94v
“He was not permitted to fly commercial airlines or routes to Saipan and onward to Australia. Any contribution big or small is much appreciated.”
NewsWire has confirmed the bill for the flights will fall to Mr Assange and his supporters, while Australian government representatives are assisting with the administrative work required at the US territory.
The fundraiser for the flights has raised $494,000 as of 10am, a little more than 60 per cent of the target.
Mr Assange left Belmarsh Prison in London, flew to Thailand and then the Northern Mariana Islands during the past two days.
He is expected to land in Canberra about 7pm AEST on Wednesday.
Mr Assange’s father hopes his son will take a year off to appreciate “the beauty of ordinary life” in Australia.
Mr Assange fronted the US court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to a single felony of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information, a violation under the US Espionage Act.
Mr Albanese was reserved when asked about the proceedings on Wednesday morning.
“Obviously, the legal proceedings regarding Mr Assange underway right now in the United States. This is a welcome development, but we recognise as well that those proceedings are sensitive and should be respected,” he said.
“This isn’t something that has happened in the last 24 hours.
“This is something that has been considered patiently, worked through in a calibrated way, which is how Australia conducts ourselves internationally.”
Speaking to the Today show on Wednesday morning, Mr Assange’s father 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.”
Mr Assange fathered two children, born in 2017 and 2019, with his wife while he was an asylum seeker in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
Mr Shipton was at a Canberra tourist park on Wednesday morning awaiting instruction from the federal government on what happens when Mr Assange’s plane touches down.
Mr Assange has travelled from London to Bangkok, then to the US territory, which is 2600km east of Manila.
Footage from the Saipan courthouse showed Mr Assange arriving about 8am AEST on Wednesday to accept the plea deal, flanked by Mr Rudd.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the US legal system needed to run its course and would not comment on the exact time Mr Assange would set foot on Australian soil.
“Irrespective of one’s view of what Mr Assange originally did, he’s been incarcerated for a very long period of time and this is obviously a situation which needed legal resolution,” Mr Marles said on Channel 9 Tuesday morning.
“He’s been incarcerated for a long time … that’s why we’ve been advocating on his behalf.
“We’ve been working tirelessly on Mr Assange’s behalf these past few years.”
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