Assange is expected to return to his home country of Australia after his plea and sentencing.
ADVERTISEMENTA plane believed to be carrying Julian Assange landed in Bangkok on Tuesday as the WikiLeaks founder is on his way to enter a plea deal with the US government guaranteeing his freedom.
The move will resolve a legal case that spanned years and continents over the publication of a trove of classified documents.
It is unclear if the plane is only refuelling or how Assange will continue travelling to the Northern Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the Western Pacific, where he will appear in court Wednesday morning Saipan time.
He’s expected to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information, according to the US Justice Department in a letter filed in court.
Today, Assange’s wife Stella Assange posted a photo on social media platform X of her husband allegedly calling from London’s Stansted Airport.
Assange is expected to return to his home country of Australia after his plea and sentencing.
The hearing is taking place in Saipan, the largest island in the Northern Marianas, because of Assange’s opposition to travelling to the continental US and the court’s proximity to Australia, prosecutors said.
The guilty plea, which a judge must approve, brings an abrupt conclusion to a criminal case of international intrigue and the US government’s years-long pursuit of Assange.
The WikiLeaks founder said via his hugely popular secret-sharing website he was acting as a journalist to expose US military wrongdoing. Investigators, by contrast, have repeatedly asserted that his actions broke laws meant to protect sensitive information and put the country’s national security at risk.
Attorneys for Assange didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement posted on X, WikiLeaks said Assange boarded a plane and departed the United Kingdom on Monday after leaving the British prison, where he has spent the last five years.
WikiLeaks applauded the deal, saying it was grateful for “all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom.”
“WikiLeaks published ground-breaking stories of government corruption and human rights abuses, holding the powerful accountable for their actions. As editor-in-chief, Julian paid severely for these principles, and for the people’s right to know,” WikiLeaks said.
Icelandic investigative journalist and WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson said this is an “important day of joy” and thanked supporters of the cause for guaranteeing Assange’s freedom.
Assange’s mother, Christine Assange, said the plea deal “shows the importance and power of quiet diplomacy.”
“I am grateful that my son’s ordeal is finally coming to an end,” his mother said in a statement.
Reaction from Australia
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has been lobbying for the US to end its prosecution of Assange, told Parliament that an Australian envoy had flown with Assange from London. “Regardless of the views that people have about Mr. Assange’s activities, the case has dragged on for too long,” he said.
“There’s nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration and we want him brought home to Australia,” Albanese added.
ADVERTISEMENTForeign Minister Penny Wong said Assange’s release is the result of the Albanese government and efforts led by the Prime Minister, including raising the issue “at the most senior levels,” she said. This includes speaking with US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, according to the statement.
Support for the release of Assange has received bipartisan support in Australia.
Former Australia Deputy Prime Minister and member of the conservative Nationals party Barnaby Joyce – who campaigned heavily for Assange’s release at the beginning of the year – is cautiously optimistic about the news. He told reporters at Parliament House today: “We just got to be cautious, still cautious, on how this proceeds because the end has not arrived.”
Opposition spokesman on foreign affairs Simon Birmingham also welcomed the apparent end to the prosecution, saying that the US and UK justice systems “should be respected.”
“We welcome the fact that Mr. Assange’s decision to plead guilty will bring this long running saga to an end,” Birmingham added.
ADVERTISEMENTIn February, a bill calling for Washington and Britain to bring the “matter to a close so that Mr. Assange can return home to his family in Australia” was supported by 86 lawmakers in the 151-seat House of Representatives in February.
What happens next
The deal ensures that Assange will admit guilt while also sparing him from any additional prison time. He had spent years hiding out in the Ecuadorian embassy in London after Swedish authorities sought his arrest on rape allegations before being locked up in the UK.
Assange is expected to be sentenced to the five years he has already spent in the high-security British prison while fighting to avoid extradition to the US to face charges, a process that has played out in a series of hearings in London.
Last month, he won the right to appeal an extradition order after his lawyers argued that the US government provided “blatantly inadequate” assurances that he would have the same free speech protections as an American citizen if extradited from Britain.
