The wife of Julian Assange gave tearful thanks to the public for the support shown to her husband, as he arrived in Australia after striking a plea deal with a US court that allowed him to walk free – bringing to an end a 14-year legal battle.
Assange landed in Canberra after a six-hour flight from the island of Saipan, a US territory in the Pacific, where he was freed after pleading guilty to one charge of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.
Under the deal, a judge sentenced him to his time already served at Belmarsh prison in the UK – where he had spent five years locked up while fighting US attempts to extradite him – and wished him an “early happy birthday” for when he turns 53 next week.
Assange raised his right fist as he emerged for the plane and his supporters at the airport cheered from a distance. He embraced his wife Stella Assange and father John Shipton who were waiting on the tarmac.
At a quickly arranged press conference at a hotel, Ms Assange said her husband, who could not attend the event, should never have spent a day in prison, and that “today was a day of celebration” following his release. She added: “It took millions of people, it took people working behind the scenes, people protesting on the streets for days and weeks and months and years. And we achieved it.”
She said: “Julian needs time to recover. To get used to freedom. Someone told me yesterday who had been through something similar, that freedom comes slowly. And I want Julian to have that space to rediscover freedom, slowly. And quickly.”
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