Julian Assange is finally free. The WikiLeaks publisher left Belmarsh Prison on Monday morning - June 24 2024 - and departed the U.K. headed to Australia, WikiLeaks said.
Julian Assange has agreed to a plea deal with the United States. He left Belmarsh on Monday and is headed to Australia, WikiLeaks said.
“He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK,” WikiLeaks said in a tweet early Tuesday morning London time.
Stella Assange, tweeted: “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.”
Assange was released as a result of a plea deal with the United States, the BBC reported. The British national broadcaster said:
“According to CBS, the BBC’s US partner, Assange will spend no time in US custody and will receive credit for the time spent incarcerated in the UK.
Assange will return to Australia, according to a letter from the justice department.
The deal – which will see him plead guilty to one charge – is expected to be finalised in a court in the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday, 26 June.”
The New York Times reported that Assange agreed to the one count of the Espionage Act — “conspiracy to disseminate national defense information” — in exchange for a five year sentence, which the U.S. agreed had already been served on remand in Belmarsh.
WikiLeaks released this video of Assange walking onto the pane on his way out of London, where he was imprisoned for five years.
