Julian Assange: WikiLeaks founder warned ‘we have laws’
Julian Assange has been warned against leaking top secret information again, as he flees to a house by the Aussie beach. Follow updates.
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Julian Assange has been warned Australia will not tolerate the leaking of top secret information, as the freed WikiLeaks founder spent his first day back home in Australia.
Mr Assange’s wife, Stella, and his lawyers joined cross-party group supporters at Parliament House on Thursday but Assange was nowhere to be seen.
It’s believed the 52-year-old has left Canberra for a beach house on the NSW south coast.
Anthony Albanese was the first to speak to Assange after his plane landed in Canberra on Wednesday night. Assange told the prime minister he had saved his life.
But speaking on Thursday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Mr Albanese’s warm welcome should not be mistaken as the government tolerating the leaking of secret documents.
“We have laws in Australia in relation to national security information. We expect those laws to be observed by all citizens and by all entities. That is our position,” Senator Wong said.
“In relation to Mr Assange, we have taken the view that this matter had gone on for too long, and as the prime minister has said, nothing would be served by further incarceration of Mr Assange.”
MYSTERY BITCOIN DONOR FUNDS ASSANGE COSTS
A single bitcoin donation worth nearly $740,000 has been made to Julian Assange’s team after his wife’s plea for help with funds, covering almost the entire cost of his private jet.
Assange’s wife, Stella, issued an urgent appeal for help with funds on Wednesday to pay for his private jet after the Australian government confirmed that it would not pay for transportation costs.
Stella Assange revealed the couple had been hit with a bill to repay the Australian government $783,000 to cover the cost of the charter jet returning him to Australia — as a commercial option was not viable — and issued a plea on social media for help with funds
Remarkably, a single Bitcoin donor sent over 8 BTC worth nearly $740,000 to the flight fund after Mrs Assange provided a Bitcoin address for contributions.
FIGHT FOR U.S. PARDON
It comes as lawyers for Assange said they would continue the fight for a full US presidential pardon after the WikiLeaks founder returned to Australia for the first time in over 14 years.
Barry Pollack, Assange’s American criminal lawyer, told reporters in Canberra it would take time as the Australian activist had just returned home.
“The President of the United States has absolute pardon power,” he said.
“President Biden or any subsequent President absolutely can, and in my mind should, issue a pardon to Julian Assange.
“Obviously he has just gotten home and I know that will take some time but I hope and expect the same support that he received when he was in prison will again gather steam.”
Assange’s wife, Stella, revealed to reporters the adorable reaction of her two young sons, Max and Gabriel, when they realised their father had been freed.
She said the two boys, aged seven and five, have not been reunited with their father yet but it would happen soon.
“The kids were asleep when he arrived last night. It is still it hasn’t happened yet but they were very excited when they found out their dad was coming home.
“I had to tell them gradually so they were very, very excited. They were jumping on the sofa and I managed to send a video of them reacting and jumping on the sofa to Julian while he was in Saipan and he was very pleased.”
ALBO CALL ‘INAPPROPRIATE’
Shadow foreign affairs minister Simon Birmingham has argued the Prime Minister’s warm welcome by telephone to Julian Assange was not appropriate.
He said the WikiLeaks founder should not be treated like other Australians who were “wrongfully detained”.
“This call is neither necessary nor appropriate,” Senator Birmingham tweeted.
“Julian Assange was not wrongfully detained like Cheng Lei, Sean Turnell or Kylie Moore-Gilbert.
“For 12 years Assange chose to avoid facing justice in countries with fair judicial systems. He is undeserving of this treatment.”
Earlier tonight I was pleased to speak with Julian Assange to welcome him home to his family in Australia. pic.twitter.com/r0Yl3iJtdb
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) June 26, 2024
Anthony Albanese earlier revealed he was the first person to speak to Assange after the WikiLeaks founder hit the tarmac.
“We have got this done,” the Prime Minister told Assange moments after landing.
Assange told Mr Albanese by phone “that he had saved his life”, one of his lawyer told reporters.
Mr Albanese said he was “very pleased” by the outcome.
“Regardless of your views about his activities, and they will be varied, Mr Assange’s case has dragged on for too long,” he said on in a post on X, formerly Twitter, alongside a photo of himself during the call to Assange.
ASSANGE ENJOYING GOOD FOOD, COFFEE
Mrs Assange earlier revealed her husband spent his first hours back on home soil enjoying “good bread with lots of butter” for breakfast and watching the sunrise for the first time in years.
“(He) commented on the smell of freshly ground coffee, he slept in his first real bed in many years,” she added, in an interview with Sky News Australia on Thursday.
“He is starting to get the first taste of freedom.”
Assange flew home via private jet on Wednesday arriving to a chilly Canberra evening ending a 14-year fight for freedom.
Mrs Assange said her reunion with her husband was filled with “so many tears”.
“I can’t describe it, there were so many tears, everyone was so emotional,” she told host Peter Stefanovic.
“I finally got to embrace my husband as a free man and we were both very, very emotional and so happy to be together again.”
She also revealed how their two children were handling the change.
“They know our lives have changed completely,” she said.
“Their lives until now were going to see their father in a high security prison once a week having to go through these checks, having only an hour with their father.”
Mrs Assange would not day whether her husband would return to WikiLeaks, the platform he founded in 2006 which is now led by Icelandic journalist Kristinn Hrafnsson.
“Well, Julian is a free speech advocate, he will utilise his free speech to defend human rights, to denounce injustice just like he has always done. And that is his right and freedom,” she said.
“No person should be in trouble for denouncing injustice and defending human rights, that is the standard we need to maintain and hopefully it is a standard which has now been restored with Julian’s freedom.”
EMOTIONAL FAMILY REUNION
An emotional Stella Assange told waiting media on Wednesday her husband needs “time to recover and get used to freedom” as he walked on home soil for the first time in 15 years.
His arrival ended a bitter and lengthy legal battle that centred around the release of hundreds of classified and unfiltered US state department documents.
Mrs Assange said she was “overcome by emotion” when she was gathered into an embrace by her husband moments after he landed on the tarmac.
After leaving the plane, Assange raised a fist to cheers from supporters.
Mrs Assange held back tears as she revealed what his freedom meant and thanked Australians for their support.
“It took millions of people, people working behind the scenes, people protesting on the streets for days and weeks and months and years, as we achieved it,” Ms Assange said.
“Julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. He wanted to be here. But you have to understand what he has been through. He needs time to recover and to recuperate. To get used to the freedoms.
“Someone told me yesterday, who had been through something similar, that freedom comes slowly. And I want Julian to have that space to rediscover freedom, slowly.
“I ask you to please give us privacy and for our family to be a family.”
She said her husband should never have spent a day in prison but was celebrating because “today, Julian is free”.
“Today we celebrate Julian’s freedom. I think it’s also a day where I hope journalists and editors and publishers everywhere realise the danger of this US case against Julian. That precedent can and now will be used against the press,” she said.
“I think freedom of the press is in a very dangerous place … There needs to be a conscious and joint effort to push back. That push back should have resulted in the dropping of the case against Julian. Unfortunately that didn’t happen.”
Assange’s legal team also addressed the media, where his Australian lawyer Jennifer Robinson described the legal battle as the “criminalisation of journalism”.
She said “we are absolutely delighted to be home” and was grateful to the Australian government for their support to make today possible.
“This is a huge win for Australia and democracy,” she said.
‘WE GET THINGS DONE’: ALBO
Mr Albanese said Mr Assange’s return to Australia was the result of “strategic, calibrated and patient” diplomatic work from a range of actors, including former Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and High Commissioner to the UK Stephen Smith.
“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,” he said.
The Prime Minister said Mr Assange had referred to Australia’s diplomatic corp as the “A Team”.
He said the saga would not damage relations with the United States, Australia’s most important ally.
Mr Albanese said he was “pleased” to speak with Assange and to “welcome him home”.
“As I have said, both as Labor leader and as Prime Minister, there was nothing to be gained by the further incarceration of Mr Assange and we wanted him brought home. That has happened. We have got this done,” he said.
The Prime Minister said while people might hold different views about Mr Assange’s actions, he would always “stand up” for Australian citizens.
“I believe in standing up for Australian citizens,” he said.
“The Australian government stands up for Australian citizens, that’s what we do.”
ASSANGE TO START HIS ‘NEW LIFE’ IN AUSTRALIA
Assange will start his new life as a free man with his wife and two young sons in Australia.
The 52-year-old WikiLeaks founder touched down at the RAAF air base in Fairbairn, east of Canberra, on Wednesday evening at 7.45pm AEST, 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.
Assange was greeted by a strong crowd of waiting media and a small number of supporters.
Pressed up against the fence, hundreds watched on as Mr Assange’s plane taxied across the runway.
Australian Border Force officials entered the plane to greet the WikiLeaks founder, ensuring he cleared customs before stepping foot on Australian soil.
Just before 8pm, Assange stepped out of the plane, raising his fist to a large crowd, cheering him on.
He walked across the tarmac into the arms of wife, picking her up and giving her a kiss.
Assange then embraced his father before giving another wave to the crowd.
Stella later shared her emotional reunion on socials, using one word to describe it: “Home.”
Home. pic.twitter.com/OZAcXloxiP
— Stella Assange #FreeAssangeNOW (@Stella_Assange) June 26, 2024
An hour before the plane was expected to land, a photograph of Assange on the phone with Stella was shared on the WikiLeaks’ Instagram page.
LENGTHY LEGAL BATTLE ENDS
A teary-eyed Assange was emotional at the conclusion of the fast-paced hearing when Judge Ramona Manglona declared: “This case ends with me here in Saipan.”
Assange tightened his tie and held his glasses in his hand as Judge Manglona wished him an early happy birthday for July 3 and urged him to start his “new life in a positive manner.”
Assange’s four-word statement that he was “guilty to the information” brought to an end an extraordinary 14-year legal battle.
The saga saw him holed up for seven years in London’s Ecuadorean embassy, where he was granted political asylum, before he was detained in the notorious Belmarsh prison while fighting extradition to the US.
His backers hailed the Townsville-born Assange as a tireless defender of press freedom while his critics slammed him for putting American national security at risk by revealing military secrets.
ASSANGE SUPPORTED BY RUDD
Throughout his court hearing, Assange was backed by Kevin Rudd, Australia’s ambassador to the US, who travelled with him by car to the court after Assange stopped off for a quick breakfast at the Crowne Plaza following his arrival by private jet at the Saipan International Airport.
During a brief recess in the packed courtroom, Assange shared a laugh with Mr Rudd, who was sitting directly behind Assange and next to Stephen Smith, the Australian High Commissioner to the UK who travelled with Assange on the private jet.
Assange smiled as he left court to applause from a crowd of spectators and reporters but did not answer any questions.
‘HISTORIC DAY’ ASSANGE’S LAWYER DECLARES
Speaking outside the court, Assange’s Australian lawyer, Jennifer 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.”
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Originally published as Julian Assange: WikiLeaks founder warned ‘we have laws’
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