Screenshot of the video released by Wikileaks showing Julian Assange just seconds before boarding a plane that is taking him to Australia. Photo: X/@Stella_Assange.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been released from prison in the United Kingdom and is flying to Australia, WikiLeaks reported.
Earlier on Monday, July 24, court documents revealed that Assange is expected to plead guilty to a US espionage charge as part of a plea deal with the US Department of Justice.
Julian is free!!!!
Words cannot express our immense gratitude to YOU- yes YOU, who have all mobilised for years and years to make this come true. THANK YOU. tHANK YOU. THANK YOU.
Follow @WikiLeaks for more info soonâŠpic.twitter.com/gW4UWCKP44
— Stella Assange #FreeAssangeNOW (@Stella_Assange) June 25, 2024
“Julian Assange is free. He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there,” Wikileaks published on social media on Monday. “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 statement confirmed reports that Assange was negotiating a deal with the US Department of Justice, which is yet to be formally finalized.
UK High Court Rules Assange Can Appeal US Extradition Request
In April 2019, Assange, an Australian citizen, was arrested by the London police from inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London and transferred to the high-security Belmarsh prison on bail breach charges. He remained imprisoned there for five years while the US government tried to extradite him and prosecute him under the Espionage Act for obtaining and disclosing classified information that shed light on war crimes and human rights violations committed by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
WikiLeaks said that the international campaign to free Assange has âthe space for a long period of negotiations with the US Department of Justice, leading to a deal that has not yet been formally finalized.â
âAs he returns to Australia, we thank all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom,â WikiLeaks wrote.
According to a letter from the US DOJ, Assange will appear in court in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific, on Wednesday. âWe anticipate that the defendant will plead guilty to the charge⊠of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information relating to the national defense of the United States,â the letter said.
The DOJ added that it expects Assange to return to his home country of Australia after the proceedings.
(Sputnik) with Orinoco Tribune content
