WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange pleaded guilty this morning to obtaining and publishing US military secrets, according to a plea deal with US judicial authorities, thus ending a long legal battle, after which he left the courtroom a free man and headed home - to Australia.
He was met at the airport in Canberra by his wife Stella.
Among the family members who met Assange at the airport was his father, John Shipton.
According to the settlement, Assange pleaded guilty in a US federal courtroom in Saipan in the Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific. That territory is relatively close to Assange's native Australia and was consistent with his desire not to enter the US mainland.
Yesterday, the founder of WikiLeaks was released from a prison near London, where he had been imprisoned since 2019, and left Great Britain, as part of a plea deal reached with American judicial authorities. He boarded a private plane at Stansted Airport, WikiLeaks said, which also released a video of Assange entering the plane.
According to the deal, he had to plead guilty to one count of the indictment, but also that he could be released immediately, and not have to spend time in an American prison. He was sentenced to five years in prison, which he has already spent in custody in Britain, where he has long fought extradition to the US on espionage charges, for which he could have received a lengthy prison sentence if convicted.
Assange smiled slightly at the judge who sentenced him and declared him a "free man", the agencies reported.
Assange then left the Mariana Islands and traveled to Australia.
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In 2010, WikiLeaks released hundreds of thousands of classified US military documents about Washington's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Assange's legal troubles began in 2010, when he was arrested in London at the request of Sweden, which allegedly wanted to question him about allegations of rape and sexual abuse of two women. In 2012, Assange then found refuge in the Embassy of Ecuador in 2012.
The relationship between Assange and his hosts at the Embassy deteriorated and he was kicked out in April 2019. He was immediately arrested and jailed by British police for breaching bail in 2012. Sweden, however, dropped its sex crimes investigation in November 2019 due to the statute of limitations.
Australian Prime Minister satisfied with the end of the "saga"
Australian Prime Minister Antoni Albanese said today that he was "very satisfied" with the agreement that Assange reached with the American judicial authorities and which ended the court "saga" that lasted almost 14 years.
"I am very pleased that on this occasion we got a positive result, which I think the majority of Australians were looking for," Albanese told Australian MPs in Canberra.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, an Australian citizen, pleaded guilty this morning to obtaining and publishing US military secrets, according to a plea deal with US judicial authorities, ending a long legal battle, after which he left the courtroom a free man and headed home - in Australia on a plane provided by the Australian government.
Albanese said Australians had mixed opinions about Assange's activities and involvement, but were satisfied that "that saga is over and he can return to his family".
The end of the Assange case is the result of "careful, patient and determined work," Albanese said, adding that he was proud of what was done.
"I have said many times that there was nothing to be gained from keeping Assange in prison, and I am satisfied that he is on his way back to Australia. Regardless of the views on his activities, and they may differ, the Assange case has gone on for too long." , Albanese said.
The Australian Prime Minister confirmed that the Australian Ambassador to the USA, Kevin Rudd, and the Australian High Commissioner to Great Britain, Stephen Smith, are accompanying Assange together on the plane that is transporting him to Australia today, after he appeared before the American judicial authorities in the Mariana Islands, an American territory in the Pacific.
The US Department of Justice announced today that Assange is barred from entering the US without proper authorization.
"Pursuant to the plea agreement, Assange is prohibited from returning to the United States without authorization," the US Department of Defense said at the time he was on his way to Australia.
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