Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has walked free from prison in the UK after more than five years behind bars as part of a plea deal reached with the US Justice Department.
He has boarded a private plane at London’s Stanstead Airport.
Assange’s travel arrangements have not been publicised but it is widely expected that he could be back in Australia as soon as this week.
Where is Julian Assange going, and why?
Assange, 52, is heading to the Northern Mariana Islands, near Guam, in the Pacific Ocean.
The Northern Mariana Islands is a self-governing territory of the USA.
It comprises of 14 islands and the capital is Saipan.
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There he’ll appear in a US federal court to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information, the US Justice Department said in a letter filed in court.
He’ll fly via Bangkok in Thailand.
The hearing is taking place there because of Assange’s opposition to travelling to the continental US and the court’s proximity to Australia.
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What happens next? Will he return to Australia?
Assange is expected to return to Sydney, Australia after his plea and sentencing, which is scheduled for Wednesday morning local time.
Assange was born in Townsville, Queensland.
His wife, Stella Assange, who was in the UK for his release has thanked supporters in a message o 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. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU,” she said.
READ MORE: A timeline of Julian Assange’s legal saga
What did Julian Assange do?
Assange founded secret-sharing website Wikileaks in 2006.
Among the files published by WikiLeaks was a video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by American forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists.
He also posted more than 90,000 classified documents related to the Afghanistan warm and classified military documents related to the Iraq war, in 2010.
Details on the treatment of detainees being held at the US Navy’s detention facility at Guantánamo Bay are among other files he published.
How long was Julian Assange in jail?
Assange was held for 1901 days – just over five years – at Belmarsh Prison in London.
Why did Julian Assange go to the Ecuadorian embassy?
Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012 and was granted political asylum after courts in England ruled he should be extradited to Sweden as part of a rape investigation in the Scandinavian country.
He was arrested by British police after Ecuador’s government withdrew his asylum status in 2019 and then jailed for skipping bail when he first took shelter inside the embassy.
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