OAN’s James Meyers
10:37 AM – Wednesday, June 26, 2024
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was reunited with his family after touching down in his homeland of Australia on Wednesday.
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The 52-year-old put his fist in the air as he stepped off a private jet at Canberra airport at 5:30 a.m. ET (7:30 p.m. local time) before he was seen emotionally embracing his wife, Stella, and lifting her off the ground.
Assange’s arrival came just hours after pleading guilty to publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal that set him free after a 14-year legal battle.
Speaking at a press conference just hours after his arrival, Assange’s wife choked up as she said he “needs time” to recuperate and reunite with their two young kids, ages 4 and 2, who have only ever known him as a prisoner.
“I ask you, please, to give us space, to give us privacy, to find our place. To let our family be a family before he can speak again at a time of his choosing,” Stella told reporters.
“Julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. He wanted to be here, but you have to understand what he’s been through. He needs time. He needs to recuperate. And this is a process.”
Assange’s return to his country ends a multiyear saga in which he spent over five years in a British high-security jail, as well as seven years in asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
He also faced extradition to Sweden on sexual assault allegations, and to the U.S., where he faced 18 criminal charges.
The charges come from WikiLeaks’ release in 2010 of thousands of classified U.S. military documents that covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which is considered one of the biggest breaches of secret information in American history.
However, in stunning fashion the criminal case came to an end when Assange entered a plea in a U.S. District Court in Saipan, which is the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, earlier Wednesday and then took off back to Australia.
Reports claimed that the first person the freed prisoner spoke to via phone was Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, according to Assange’s lawyer Jennifer Robinson.
“We are absolutely thrilled that Julian is now home in Australia,” Robinson told reporters.
“I can say when we landed here in Australia, I became very emotional at the moment that we landed and the prime minister was the first person to get on the phone to speak to Julian.”
“Julian thanked him and the team and told the prime minister that he had saved his life. And I don’t think that that is an exaggeration,” she added.
Albanese, who has called for Assange to be freed for several years, described their phone call as a “very warm discussion.”
“He was very generous in his praise of the Australian government’s efforts,” the PM said. “The Australian government stands up for Australian citizens, that’s what we do.”
Additionally, Assange had earlier admitted to one felony charge of violating the Espionage Act during his three-hour hearing in Saipan as part of his plea deal with Justice Department prosecutors.
“Working as a journalist, I encouraged my source to provide information that was said to be classified in order to publish that information,” Assange told the court.
“I believed the First Amendment protected that activity but I accept that it was … a violation of the espionage statute.”
Furthermore, Chief U.S. District Judge Ramona V. Manglona accepted his guilty plea and ruled to release him after he had already served time in a British jail.
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