Pit stop for a guilty plea and Julian Assange is homeward bound
Julian Assange will plead guilty to a single felony charge at 9am AEST before heading home to Australia.
Julian Assange has landed on the US territory of Saipan Islandand is on his way to court, where he will plead guilty to a single felony charge of conspiring to obtain and distribute classified information, before heading home to Australia.
The WikiLeaks founder flew in to the remote Northern Marianas Islands on a private jet from Bangkok, an almost six-hour journey, and will face court at 9am (AEST).
The flight tracker website Flightradar24 said Assange’s jet was the most tracked flight on Wednesday.
NOW: Julian Assange has arrived on US territory at Saipan Island to formalise the plea deal that should never have had to happen. #AssangeJetpic.twitter.com/Q0Lqaaeye8
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 25, 2024
Assange’s wife says she is “elated” at her husband’s release from prison and the family’s top priority is to help him regain his health following a plea deal with US authorities to end his long-running legal saga.
Assange landed in Bangkok on Tuesday afternoon, AEST, accompanied by Australia’s high commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, after a dramatic breakthrough that saw him released from a British prison after nearly 2000 days on remand fighting extradition to the US.
Under the deal, the US Justice Department will end its pursuit of Assange over his release of hundreds of thousands of classified documents, allowing him to return home to Australia.
The deal follows lobbying by Anthony Albanese of Joe Biden and successive British leaders, and a relentless campaign by Assange’s family and global network of supporters. Stella Assange told the BBC from Australia she had experienced “a whirlwind of emotions” in recent days as the plea deal moved closer to being finalised.
She said the family had not yet had a chance to discuss their plans for the future, but the priority was “for Julian to get healthy again”.
Ms Assange said her husband had “been in a terrible state for five years” and they wanted “time and privacy” to start a new chapter of their lives with their children.
“It’s always been quite extraordinary,” she said. “But I’m just so emotional now. You know, this is finally over.”
The Prime Minister was cautious on Tuesday as news of Assange’s release broke, fearing any misplaced comments could jeopardise the carefully negotiated agreement allowing his release. “While this is a welcome development, we recognise that these proceedings are crucial and they are delicate,” Mr Albanese said. “As these proceedings are ongoing, it isn’t appropriate to provide further details.”
He said he had been clear in opposition and government that “regardless of the views that people have about Julian Assange and his activities, the case has dragged on for too long”. “There is nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration and we want him home to Australia,” he told parliament. “We have engaged and advocated Australia’s interests using all appropriate channels to support a positive outcome.”
According to the New York Post, Assange is believed to have shelled out $US500,000 ($752,000) for a private jet to fly to the remote island of Saipan in the US territory of Marianas Islands, in the northwest Pacific, to avoid returning to the American mainland.
Assange, 52, is scheduled to appear at 9am AEST on Wednesday in the US District Court in Saipan. He is expected to be sentenced to 62 months already served in a London prison, and be allowed to return to Australia.
His guilty plea, which must be approved by a judge, follows years of legal efforts by the “radical transparency” advocate to avoid charges in the US over WikiLeaks’ document dumps that embarrassed America and its allies.
According to a court document, Assange will plead guilty to one count of conspiring to obtain and distribute classified information.
Julian Assange boards flight at London Stansted Airport at 5PM (BST) Monday June 24th. This is for everyone who worked for his freedom: thank you.#FreedJulianAssangepic.twitter.com/Pqp5pBAhSQ
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 25, 2024
The charge relates to WikiLeaks’ publication of troves of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables about America’s actions in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s. He had previously faced 18 charges under US espionage laws.
His legal team had been adamant he would not travel to the US to face court in suburban Virginia, where the original case was filed.
The plea deal followed signs of a looming resolution to the case, including a comment by Mr Biden in April when he was asked by the press about Australia’s request for Assange to be freed. “We’re considering it,” Mr Biden said.
Assange’s release was applauded across the political spectrum. Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said: “We have consistently said that the US and UK justice systems should be respected. We welcome the fact that Mr Assange’s decision to plead guilty will bring this long-running saga to an end.”
Labor backbencher Josh Wilson said it was an “enormously heartening development”.
Nationals MP Keith Pitt said all those involved in advocating for the WikiLeaks founder deserved credit. “(The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) are always the quiet achievers. They do some very, very difficult things at a consular level, all over the world,” he said. “I’m sure Penny Wong has also been involved, as were previous foreign affairs ministers and prime ministers.”
Greens leader Adam Bandt welcomed the outcome but lamented Assange’s lost decade fighting extradition to the US.
“Julian Assange will finally be free,” he said. “While great news, this has been over a decade of his life wasted by US overreach. Journalism is not a crime.”
Assange’s fight for freedom has been at times surreal. He was pursued by Sweden in 2010 on rape charges that were later dropped, and sought asylum in Ecuador’s Embassy in London two years later. He remained there for five years, receiving Ecuadorean citizenship and fathering two children.
Assange has sought sanctuary in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, but outstayed his welcome by failing to clean up after his cat, skateboarding in the hallway and allegedly leaking personal information about Ecuador’s president to a rival.
He was stripped of Ecuadorean citizenship in 2019, kicked out of the embassy, and immediately arrested by British police.
Assange revelled in his role as a champion of free speech, arguing he was a journalist and his publication of leaked information should be protected by the US first amendment. But WikiLeaks’ disclosures undermined American diplomacy and, the US argued, threatened the lives of military and intelligence personnel. Former president Donald Trump’s first CIA director, Mike Pompeo, said the website was a “non-state hostile intelligence service”.
US prosecutors charged Assange in 2019, accusing him of conspiring to help former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning break into a Defence Department computer system.
Additional reporting: Agencies
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