Julian Assange boards his private jet at London Stanstead Airport on Monday. Photo: Screenshot/Wikileaks.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is expected to touch down in Canberra this evening (26 June), after pleading guilty in the US District Court to the criminal charge of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
His plea deal has seen that sentence commuted to the nearly six years he has spent in Belmarsh Prison in the UK while he fought extradition to the US.
Mr Assange’s private jet – the cost of which has been covered by the Australian Government but will reportedly be passed on to Mr Assange – is expected to depart Saipan around midday AEST and arrive in Canberra this evening.
Upon arrival in Saipan, he was met by Australia’s Ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, and High Commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, both of whom accompanied him to the courthouse along with human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson.
Despite his plea, when asked to explain the charges, Mr Assange was defiant.
“Working as a journalist, I encouraged my source to provide information that was said to be classified in order to publish that information,” he told the court.
“I believed the First Amendment protected that activity. I believe the First Amendment and the Espionage Act are in contradiction.”
Chief Judge Ramona Manglona has accepted Mr Assange’s plea.
In a post on X, former US Vice President Mike Pence described the plea deal as a “miscarriage of justice”.
“Julian Assange endangered the lives of our troops in a time of war and should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.
“The Biden Administration’s plea deal with Assange is a miscarriage of justice and dishonours the service and sacrifice of the men and women of our armed forces and their families.
“There should be no plea deals to avoid prison for anyone that endangers the security of our military or the national security of the United States. Ever.”
In a statement this morning, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the developments but added, “We recognise as well that those proceedings are sensitive and should be respected”.
“This is not something that has happened in the last 24 hours, this is something that has been considered, patient, worked through in a calibrated way, which is how Australia conducts ourselves internationally,” he said.
“I have been very clear as Labor leader and as prime minister; regardless of what your views about Mr Assange’s activities, his case has dragged on for too long.
“There is nothing to be gained from his continued incarceration, and we want him brought home to Australia.”
Original Article published by Andrew McLaughlin on Riotact.
