‘Julian Assange is free’: Wikileaks founder on his way home to Australia in US deal

Australian Community Media

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has left the UK in the wake of news that he had struck a deal with US prosecutors and is expected to return to Australia and face no new prison time. This video includes ACM-produced voiceover powered by AI.

Transcript

00:00This period of our lives, I'm confident now, has come to an end and I think that by this

00:08time next week, Julian will be free.

00:11WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could return to Australia within days after leaving Belmarsh

00:16prison and boarding a private jet out of the United Kingdom.

00:20Assange, 52, has been fighting extradition to the US, where he was facing espionage charges

00:28for obtaining and publishing classified information.

00:32Assange has instead agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to

00:37obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents.

00:42Assange is due to be sentenced at a hearing at 9am on Wednesday 26th June 2024 and will

00:48likely be credited for time already served and face no new jail time.

00:53This would have never, never materialised.

00:57This important day of joy, the day of Julian's freedom.

01:01So thank you so much.

01:03Australia has long called for the US to end its pursuit of Assange, with Prime Minister

01:08Anthony Albanese directly raising the issue with President Joe Biden.

01:13Julian Assange was first arrested in the UK in 2010 on a separate matter and took refuge

01:19in Ecuador's embassy in London.

01:21He was sent to Belmarsh prison in 2019.

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