As it happened: Freed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange lands in Australia; family, legal team holds Canberra press conference

That’s where we’ll leave our live coverage of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s court appearance and return to Australia, which ended a 14-year rollercoaster of legal and diplomatic battles.

Thanks for joining us. Here’s a quick recap of what happened today:

• WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has returned to Australia a free man after spending more than a decade in self-exile or British prison for publishing classified US military and diplomatic documents. He was released after striking a plea deal with US prosecutors.
• Assange was freed from London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison on Tuesday after 1901 days behind bars, and left the country with Australia’s UK High Commissioner, Stephen Smith.

Julian Assange gave two thumbs up as he stepped off the plane to applause in Canberra on Wednesday night.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

• He travelled to the Northern Mariana Islands, a United States commonwealth in the Western Pacific, where he pleaded guilty on Wednesday morning to a single Espionage Act offence of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information.
• Assange left Saipan with his lawyers on a chartered flight that arrived in Canberra shortly after 7.30pm. He was greeted with applause from supporters, and embraced his wife and father.
• Stella Assange said her husband was grateful for his supporters and the federal government, but he needed time to recover from his ordeal and would speak publicly at a later date.
• Lawyers for Assange said they were thrilled he had returned to Australia but warned his prosecution was an attack on public interest journalism that should not be tolerated.

Julian Assange’s wife, Stella Assange, and his lawyers told a Canberra crowd they were thrilled the WikiLeaks founder was home – but said he should never have been prosecuted. Credit: James Brickwood

• Assange’s family says the WikiLeaks founder, who is now a convicted criminal, should never have been prosecuted and that he will seek a pardon from US President Joe Biden.
• The deal that enabled Assange’s release follows determined lobbying by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who raised Assange’s case in meetings with US President Joe Biden, and by Australian politicians from across the political spectrum.
• Assange’s release sparked condemnation and celebration across the United States, reflecting the ongoing divisions over his role in publishing the documents.

A lawyer for Julian Assange has told a crowd of WikiLeaks supporters he hopes the law used to convict him of an espionage offence will never again be deployed against a journalist or publisher.

Barry Pollack said Assange, who returned to Australia after striking a deal with US prosecutors to plead guilty to conspiring to disclose national security information, had sacrificed his own freedom.

Barry PollackCredit: James Brickwood

“It is unprecedented in the United States to use the Espionage Act to criminally prosecute a journalist or a publisher. In the more than 100-year history of this law, it has never been used in this fashion. It is certainly our hope that it will never again be used in this fashion.”

Pollack said Assange, who spent five years in British prison, “performed a tremendous public service”.

“No-one should spend a day in prison for giving the public newsworthy and important information, and in this case, information that the US government had committed war crimes, that there were civilian casualties greater than what the US government had admitted in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Julian Assange’s wife and lawyers arrived to a sea of supporters as they spoke at a Canberra hotel following his return to Australia. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“It was definitely in the public’s interest to have this information and Julian provided it to the public.

“Hopefully this is the end – not just of the case against Julian Assange, but the end of the case against journalism.”

Julian Assange’s wife, Stella Assange, has requested privacy as the WikiLeaks founder gets used to his newfound freedom – but says he should never have spent time behind bars in the first place.

“Julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. He wanted to be here. But you have to understand what he’s been through. He needs time. He needs to recuperate. And this is a process.

Stella Assange.Credit: James Brickwood

“I ask you – please – to give us space, to give us privacy to find our place. To let our family be a family before he can speak again at a time of his choosing.”

Assange thanked the federal government and said her husband’s release “took millions of people”.

“It took people working behind the scenes, the people protesting on the streets for days and weeks and months and years. And we achieved it!” Assange said to cheers from a crowd in Canberra.

She said the prosecution against her husband was an attack on public interest journalism.

“It should never have been brought. Julian should never have spent a single day in prison. But today, we celebrate because today, Julian is free!”

Julian Assange’s lawyer Jennifer Robinson has labelled his return to Australia as a huge win for free speech and democracy, while warning his prosecution set a “dangerous precedent”.

Speaking in Canberra, Robinson said Assange’s supporters were “absolutely delighted after a very long and complex negotiation with the US government that we’ve reached this plea deal that enabled him to come home to Australia as a free man”.

Julian Assange’s long-time lawyer Jennifer Robinson.Credit: James Brickwood

“In order to win his freedom, Julian pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage for publishing US war crimes, human rights abuses and wrongdoing around the world.

“This is journalism. This is the criminalisation of journalism. And while the plea deal does not set a decision, the prosecution itself sets a precedent that can be used against the rest of the media.

“It’s important that journalists all around the world understand the dangerous precedent that this prosecution has set.”

Robinson said Assange’s supporters and legal team were “absolutely thrilled” he was home.

“When we landed here in Australia, I became very emotional at the moment that we landed.

“This is a huge win for Australia and for Australian democracy. This is a huge win for free speech.”

Asked about the criticism that Assange put lives at risk by publishing classified information, Robinson stressed there was “no evidence that anyone was physically harmed as a result”.

“The public interest in those publications is clear. To suggest that this was not in the public interest – I don’t understand the basis in which they could possibly suggest that. I think that this is clear.”

A massive crowd of Julian Assange’s supporters, including federal politicians, have packed into the lobby at the East Hotel in Canberra in hopes of catching a glimpse of the freed WikiLeaks founder.

Independent MP Zoe Daniel and Greens Senator David Shoebridge are among the politicians gathered.

Assange’s wife, Stella Assange; and lawyers Jennifer Robinson and Barry Pollack are due to hold a press conference at the hotel shortly. Assange is not expected to speak.

Assange arrived in Canberra on a chartered flight shortly after 7.30pm tonight. It was the first time he has stepped foot in Australia in 15 years after more than a decade in self-exile or British prison.

Julian Assange’s wife, Stella Assange; his father, John Shipton; and lawyers Jennifer Robinson and Barry Pollack spoke after the WikiLeaks founder returned to Australia earlier tonight.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked twice whether there was a single moment when he finally knew Julian Assange’s freedom had been secured, and he would be returned to Australia.

A clearly thrilled prime minister offered a few details, including that the first time he had raised the issue of Assange’s freedom was with US President Joe Biden in July 2022.

Julian Assange arrives in Canberra on Wednesday night after he agreed to a plea deal with US prosecutors.Credit: James Brickwood

“The first time I raised it was with President Biden, at the NATO summit in Madrid, and also with other senior members of the US administration,” he said during a press conference earlier tonight.

“But this was always the case, to be very clear, that because of the separation between the political representatives and the judiciary, this was always going to be something that required discussion, patience with the Department of Justice.”

Albanese said one of the ways to achieve results like Assange’s freedom was to not share too many details publicly.

Asked if there had been a breakthrough moment, Albanese said: “There were probably a range, a number of steps along the way.”

He stressed Australia had to be mindful of the US Department of Justice’s independence.

“We wanted to be focused on an outcome and these things don’t come together until they all come together. You know, a plea deal requires two-sided agreement between the Department of Justice and Julian Assange.”

Albanese praised Australia’s ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd and UK high commissioner Stephen Smith – both of whom once served alongside Albanese in parliament – for their work, along with DFAT officials.

Julian Assange will seek a pardon from the US president, his brother Gabriel Shipton says.

Shipton told the ABC a short time ago that his brother’s arrival in Canberra, where Assange was reunited with his father and wife shortly before 8pm, was “a really special moment”.

Julian Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, expressed relief at his brother’s safe arrival in Australia. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“I’m just overjoyed and so happy that Julian’s back at home and safe,” Shipton said.

Earlier, Shipton told the broadcaster his brother would request a pardon from US President Joe Biden.

Assange needs special permission to enter the US after his guilty plea as he is a convicted criminal.

Shipton said: “This is out of the courts now. It’s out of the hands of the [Department of Justice], and it really is teed up for Biden to make a magnanimous gesture to the press freedom community, to the progressive caucus who have been advocating for Julian in the Congress for many years.

“It’s a real moment that [Biden] could step up and take some of that goodwill up and do something for press freedom.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged people had different views about Julian Assange’s actions but said his role as prime minister “has been to firmly say that whatever the views that people have, there was no purpose to be served by this ongoing incarceration”.

Speaking in Canberra shortly after Assange’s plane touched down in the capital, Albanese said: “My job is to advocate for Australian citizens. [Australian journalist incarcerated in China] Cheng Lei, [Australian academic incarcerated in Myanmar] Sean Turnell … one of the things that my government does is, at times as well, we don’t shout, we’re not in a contest of machismo.”

“What we do is we get things done, and my government advocated strategically, patiently in a calibrated way, and we achieved this outcome.”

Albanese would not say if he would meet Assange in Canberra on Thursday, given what the Australian had been through.

“He’s been through a considerable deal. It’s up to him, when he makes a statement.”

Julian Assange has departed the airbase on the outskirts of Canberra in the front passenger seat of a black Mercedes van.

His wife and father were in the car with him.

Assange waved to supporters and reporters as the car headed towards Canberra’s city centre.