WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returned to his home in Australia on Wednesday as a free man after 14 years of prolonged legal battle. He was received by his wife, father and his followers in Canberra.
A video showed Assange disembarking from a private jet at Canberra airport, waving to the media and his followers before hugging his wife, Stella, and lifting her off the ground.
VIDEO: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange hugs his wife and father at the Canberra Airport as he returns home to Australia to start life as a free man after admitting he revealed US defence secrets in a deal that unlocked the door to his London prison cell. pic.twitter.com/u8G19fvxZz— AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 26, 2024
He then went on to embrace his father, John Shipton, before entering the terminal building with his legal team.
Julian’s wife, Stella said she was “elated, excited, exhausted,” during a YouTube livestream before his arrival, adding that she was “nervous and excited about meeting Julian at the airport”, an NBC report said.
Earlier in the day, a US judge freed Julian Assange in a plea deal culminating years of legal drama for the WikiLeaks founder, who was long wanted by Washington for revealing military secrets.
“With this pronouncement, it appears that you will be able to walk out of this courtroom a free man,” said the judge in a court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a Pacific US territory, according to an AFP report.
The judge sentenced Assange to five years and two months in prison — with credit for the same amount of time he spent behind bars in Britain while fighting extradition to the United States.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the plea deal hearing a “welcome development” after his government said Assange’s case had “dragged on for too long” with “nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration”.
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