Assange’s brother speaks after wife reveals what she’s told their kids
Stella Assange has revealed what she has told their two young children, who are in a secret Aussie location with her, about their father Julian Assange’s imminent release as his brother speaks.
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Julian Assange’s wife Stella has posted a picture of herself facetiming her husband from a secret Sydney location with the Opera House in the background.
She captioned the post: Julian calling into Sydney from Stansted airport last night (his day time)”.
Speaking from Australia, Ms Assange told BBC Radio 4 it has been a whirlwind of emotions and the last couple of days have been “touch and go” - adding that the past 72 hours have been “non-stop”.
She said the couple’s children, aged five and seven, have been told their father “might” be released.
“No one can stop a five or a seven-year-old from shouting from the rooftops at any given moment, so they still don’t know their father is due to be freed,” she said.
“I am gradually, incrementally telling them information.
“They’re very excited to be in Australia though,” she said.
Stella told the PA news agency her husband is paying half a million US dollars for the flight taking him to Australia.
Australian human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson, legal adviser to Julian Assange, is on the flight with him.
The London-based barrister, originally from Berry in NSW, has fronted high profile cases including Amber Heard.
“She is with Julian on the flight with him and will be in court with him every step of the way,” a colleague at her office at her Doughty Street Chambers.
According to Assange’s brother Gabriel Shipton, former Labor Prime Minister and current Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd and High Commissioner to the UK Stephen Smith played a crucial role in Assange’s release.
Shipton, who spoke with the ABC’s Sarah Ferguson on Tuesday night, said the two men had both been instrumental in organising the plea deal.
“I believe that the actions by the Australian parliament and by the Australian government and the Australian people really led to this position, because the Australian government are the only ones who can represent Julian diplomatically and if Julian didn’t have that support of this government then they wouldn’t be able to put this deal together and have him returning to Australia to be a free man,” he said.
The WikiLeaks founder landed in Bangkok ahead of his court hearing in the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday, marking his first step towards freedom.
A senior Thai official told AFP that Assange’s jet was slated to land in Bangkok at 2:50pm AEST, with Sky News televising the WikiLeaks founder’s landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The plane will refuel in Thailand for nine hours before departing at midnight AEST for Saipan.
The 52-year-old – who has spent 1901 days in jail – is expected to formally plead guilty to one count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents. It would mean he would escape extradition to the US and be free to return to Australia.
In a surprise development, Assange was released on bail by the UK High Court before being driven from Belmarsh jail in London to Stansted Airport on Tuesday, where he boarded a private plane and headed to Saipan – a tiny island in the Western Pacific – where he is due to face a US Federal Court.
Assange had been in negotiations with US prosecutors since 2019, having made a point to never enter American borders as a part of proceedings. Saipan is the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands and a part of US territory.
His bail marks the end of five years in prison, and more than a decade of confinement.
Advocates for Assange, who have been working behind the scenes for years, revealed there have been many plea deals on the table over the years but they had all been rejected.
The plea deal must still be approved by a US judge before Assange’s freedom is guaranteed.
Under previous charges he was facing a maximum 170 years in an American prison. If the plea is accepted, Assange will be freed based on time already served.
His release was welcomed by his mother Christine Assange, who said she is grateful his ordeal is finally coming to an end.
“This shows the importance and power of quiet diplomacy,” Ms Assange said.
“Many have used my son’s situation to push their own agendas so I am grateful to those unseen, hardworking people who put Julian’s welfare first.
“The past 14 years’ has obviously taken a toll on me as a mother, so I wish to thank you in advance for respecting my privacy,” she said.
His release comes after a cross-party coalition of Australian politicians lobbied for the whistleblower’s freedom over fears of extradition and lifelong imprisonment.
This included Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie and Greens Senator David Shoebridge.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – who earlier this year appealed to US President Joe Biden for Assange’s release – said on Tuesday he was aware of Assange’s legal proceedings in the United States.
“While we welcome the development we recognise these proceedings are crucial and delicate,” Mr Albanese said during Question Time in answer to a question by Kooyong MP Monique Ryan.
“Given these proceedings are ongoing it is not appropriate to provide further details or comment.
“I have been very clear, as both the Labor leader in opposition but also as Prime Minister, 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 brought home to Australia.”
Greens leader Adam Bandt also welcomed the news of Assange’s release, saying: “While great news, this has been over a decade of his life wasted by US overreach. Journalism is not a crime.
“Pursuing Assange was anti-democratic, anti-press freedom, and the charges should have been dropped,” Mr Bandt said.
Assange’s wife paid tribute to her husband following his release and said: “Last month Julian won permission to appeal to the High Court.
“The appeal goes to the core of the case: Whether the UK can lawfully extradite Julian Assange, an Australian citizen whose news gathering and publishing occurred outside US jurisdiction, given that the US case excludes.”
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
Former Fox news host Tucker Carlson, who has previously said the Biden administration is trying to “kill journalist Julian Assange for the crime of embarrassing the CIA”, also weighed in on the 52-year-old’s release.
“A good man, finally free. The tide is turning,” Carlson posted on X.
A good man, finally free. The tide is turning. pic.twitter.com/oVCvzGvsPv
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 25, 2024
Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said he doesn’t believe the plea deal was done for “political purposes” by US President Joe Biden.
He said Assange’s case was one that “divided the parties” among both Republicans and Democrats.
Assange’s case has become a testing ground for the litigation of whistleblowers internationally.
His potential freedom comes 43 days after whistleblower and former Australian army lawyer David McBride was imprisoned for unlawfully disclosing Commonwealth documents.
WikiLeaks is estimated to have released over 700,000 sensitive and classified documents, including a 2007 video of a US Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two journalists.
To supporters, the arrest and incarceration of Assange amounted to a threat against freedom of speech.
Critics argue that Assange moved beyond free expression and threatened national security, a charge he denies.
WHY WAS JULIAN ASSANGE IMPRISONED?
WikiLeaks was established in 2006 while Assange was still living in Australia. Already a notorious hacker, he had been found guilty by a Melbourne court in 1991 for 31 counts of cybercrime.
The website, used as a carriage service for classified information, gained notoriety in 2010 following the leak of sensitive US army intelligence related to the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Most memorable in this WikiLeaks trove was a video of a US Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two journalists.
WikiLeaks is estimated to have released more than 700,000 sensitive and classified documents.
That same year, Assange was detained over an alleged rape and sexual assault in Stockholm, Sweden. The charges were later dropped.
Assange began living in London’s Ecuadorean embassy from 2012 for fear of further litigation.
During his time at the embassy, Assange began dating his future wife Stella Assange and fathered two children, who remain anonymous.
Among his famous visitors were actor Pamela Anderson and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood.
Assange’s infamy grew during the 2016 US election when WikiLeaks released classified emails belonging to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
The emails were stolen from the Democratic National Committee and alleged to have been sourced by hackers under the guidance of the Russian government.
During his campaign, Donald Trump would praise Assange saying, “I love WikiLeaks” at a Pennsylvania rally.
In 2019, Assange was dragged from the embassy by UK police and jailed over an alleged bail breach.
He spent the next five years in high-security Belmarsh Prison, southeast London, awaiting the verdict of US extradition proceedings.
The alleged bail breach was shortly bolstered by 17 charges under the US Espionage Act.
By 2021, a District Judge determined that Assange had overstepped the role of an investigative journalist but did not grant extradition over concerns that Assange would be at risk of suicide in a US prison.
This was met with an appeal by US prosecutors in the UK’s High Court, which the prosecution won in December 2021.
His extradition to the US was approved in June 2022.
Arrangements were cut short when Assange’s defence won a second bid to appeal the High Court decision in May 2024, leading to Wednesday’s plea deal arrangement.
Assange’s litigation in Saipan marks the end of 1901 days in prison.
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