This screenshot courtesy of WikiLeaks X page shows Wikileaks founder Julian Assange walking to board a plane from London Stansted Airport on June 24, 2024. Julian Assange “is free” and has been released from a high-security London prison where he was held for five years, his Wikileaks organisation said June 24, after reaching a US plea deal.
The 52-year-old Australian was taken Monday, June 24, from Belmarsh prison to London’s Stansted airport, a Wikileaks statement said, from where he boarded a flight to an unnamed destination. (Photo by WikiLeaks / AFP)
AFP
Julian Assange’s wife Stella on Tuesday thanked campaigners for their support as the WikiLeaks founder was released after five years in British custody.
“Julian is free!!!!” she wrote on the social media platform X following confirmation that he had left Belmarsh high-security prison in southeast London.
“Words cannot express our immense gratitude” to everyone who had backed the global push for his release, she added.
WikiLeaks founder Assange has agreed to plead guilty in US court to revealing military secrets in exchange for his freedom, ending his years-long legal drama, according to court documents released Monday night.
Assange, who had been in custody in Britain, will plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate national defense information, according to the document filed in court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific.
Stella Assange met the Australian publisher while he was holed up in Ecuador’s London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges that were later dropped.
Assange, accused of divulging US military secrets related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, had been due back in court in London next month after winning an appeal against extradition.
But WikiLeaks said in a statement: “Julian Assange is free. He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of June 24, after having spent 1,901 days there.
“He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK.”
The media freedom group said sustained campaigning, from grassroots supporters to political leaders and the United Nations, “created the space for a long period of negotiations with the US Department of Justice”, leading to a deal.
The organisation said the deal “has not yet been formally finalised”.
Assange was initially detained for skipping bail in relation to the Swedish case and held in custody while the US extradition request wound its way through court.
He will now be reunited with his wife, whom he married at a ceremony in the prison, and their two young children, it added.
“WikiLeaks published ground-breaking stories of government corruption and human rights abuses, holding the powerful accountable for their actions,” the statement read.
“As editor-in-chief, Julian paid severely for these principles, and for the people’s right to know.
“As he returns to Australia, we thank all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom. Julian’s freedom is our freedom.”
