Assange celebrates emotional welcome home with his family
Freed WikiLeaks founder back in Oz
A TRIUMPHANT Julian Assange hugs his wife Stella as he arrives back in his native Australia as a free man.
The WikiLeaks founder flew into Canberra yesterday after an extraordinary few days following his release from a London prison.
Assange, 52, stepped off the plane for an emotional reunion with Stella and his father, John Shipton, after signing a plea deal with the US.
The publisher, who had been accused of leaking classified documents, waved at the crowd of gathered supporters and gave them a thumbs up as they applauded and shouted, “Welcome home!”
His release ends a criminal case of international intrigue and America’s pursuit of a man whose secret-sharing website it said put the country’s national security at risk.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who lobbied the US for Assange’s freedom, was the first person to call him after his return home.
Assange reportedly told the politician he had “saved his life”.
Stella, 40, said her husband would not speak publicly until a “time of his choosing” because he “needs to recuperate”.
Assange’s freedom came after a two-hour court appearance in the US territory of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific, where he pleaded guilty to a single charge after the US dropped 17 other espionage charges against him. Because of the five years he has already spent in Belmarsh prison, mainly in solitary confinement, he was told he was free to leave.
Judge Ramona Manglona said that assuming Assange complied with all the conditions and there was no breach of the plea agreement, “it would end the case with me here in Saipan”.
She added: “It appears that you will be able to walk out of this courtroom a free man. I do hope that there will in fact be some peace restored.”
‘Positive’
The judge said her verdict could be seen as an “early happy birthday” to Assange, who turns 53 next week.
She added: “It’s probably the first one you celebrate outside a prison or any time of a limitation so, I hope you will start living your life in a positive note. Good luck to you.”
Assange, who spent seven years at the Ecuadorian embassy in London after being granted asylum in 2012, left the UK on Monday evening and flew to Saipan via Bangkok after a plea deal was signed on June 19.
Matthew McKenzie, for the United States government, said the US would be withdrawing its extradition request “forthwith”.