Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has reached a crucial moment in his prolonged legal battles. On June 24, 2024, he was bailed by the UK High Court and left Belmarsh prison in the UK.
He boarded a flight that afternoon, with flight tracking data showing that the only VistaJet plane departing Stansted was headed to Bangkok.
Assange is scheduled to plead guilty to violating U.S. espionage laws on June 26, 2024, in a deal that will allow him to return to Australia. This plea involves a single count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defense documents. The plea deal is set to take place in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, chosen due to Assange’s opposition to traveling to the U.S. mainland and its proximity to Australia. Assange is expected to be sentenced to 62 months, equivalent to the time he has already served, ensuring he will not spend additional time in U.S. custody.
WikiLeaks confirmed Assange’s release and flight in a statement posted on social media platform X: “This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grassroots organizers, press freedom campaigners, legislators, and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations.”
His wife, Stella Assange, also expressed her gratitude on X: “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.” In an interview with the BBC’s Today programme, Stella mentioned the intense days leading up to the deal, describing them as “touch-and-go” and “non-stop.”
The Australian government, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, has been advocating for Assange’s release. A government spokesperson stated, “Prime Minister Albanese has been clear, Mr. Assange’s case has dragged on for too long and there is nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration.”
Assange’s legal troubles began in 2010 when he was arrested in Britain on a European arrest warrant after Swedish authorities sought to question him over sex-crime allegations, which were later dropped. To avoid extradition to Sweden, he fled to Ecuador’s embassy in London, where he remained for seven years. In April 2019, he was forcibly removed from the embassy and subsequently jailed for skipping bail. Since then, he has been fighting extradition to the United States while being detained in Belmarsh prison.
Assange’s health has been a significant concern, with reports of a small stroke in 2021 while in prison. During his time in the Ecuadorian embassy, he married his partner Stella and they had two children. Stella, who is now in Australia with their children, mentioned in a BBC Newshour interview that Assange needs time to “get healthy again” and for their family to have “time and privacy.”
The charges against Assange stem from WikiLeaks’ 2010 publication of classified U.S. military documents on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, leaked by Chelsea Manning. These publications have sparked a global debate on press freedom and the criminal prosecution of publishers. Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, commented on the plea deal: “A plea deal would avert the worst-case scenario for press freedom, but this deal contemplates that Assange will have served five years in prison for activities that journalists engage in every day.”
Despite the plea deal, many press freedom advocates remain concerned about its broader implications on journalism.
