WikiLeaks says Julian Assange is 'free,' has left UK

Julian Assange was released from prison Monday and has left Britain, WikiLeaks said, as he reached a landmark plea deal with US authorities that brought an end to his years-long legal drama.

"Julian Assange is free," WikiLeaks wrote on X of its founder, who had been detained in Britain for five years as he fought extradition to the United States which sought to prosecute him for revealing military secrets.

He has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate national defense information, according to a document filed in court in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific.

Assange is scheduled to appear in the US territory on Wednesday morning local time.

He is expected to be sentenced to 62 months in prison, with credit for the five years he has served in prison in Britain. This means he could return to his native Australia.

The publisher, now aged 52, was wanted by Washington for publishing hundreds of thousands of secret US documents from 2010 as head of the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

During his ordeal Assange became a hero to free speech campaigners around the world and a villain to those who thought he endangered US national security and intelligence sources by revealing secrets.

US authorities wanted to put Assange on trial for divulging US military secrets about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This plea bargain agreement will presumably end Assange's nearly 14-year legal drama.

Assange was indicted by a US federal grand jury in 2019 on 18 counts stemming from WikiLeaks' publication of a trove of national security documents.

- Extradition battle -

WikiLeaks released a short video of Assange speaking with people in what appeared to be an office and then boarding a plane.

Announcement of the deal came two weeks before Assange was scheduled to appear in court in Britain to appeal a ruling approving his extradition to the United States.

Assange had been detained in the high-security Belmarsh prison in London since April 2019.

He was arrested after spending seven years holed up in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault that were eventually dropped.

The material he released included video showing civilians being killed by fire from a US helicopter gunship in Iraq in 2007. The victims included two Reuters journalists.

The United States has accused Assange under the 1917 Espionage Act. Supporters have warned this means he could be sentenced to 175 years in prison.

The British government approved his extradition in June 2022.

In the latest twist to the saga, two British judges said in May that he could appeal against his extradition to the United States.

The appeal was to address the question of whether, as a foreigner on trial in America, he would enjoy the protections of freedom of speech accorded under the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

The plea deal was not entirely unexpected. President Joe Biden had been under growing pressure to drop the long-running case against Assange.

In February the government of Australia made an official request to this effect and Biden said he would consider it, raising hopes among Assange supporters that his ordeal might end.

The Australian government said Assange's case had "dragged on for too long and there is nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration."

Emma Shortis, senior researcher at The Australia Institute think tank, told AFP that both Canberra and Washington had a "recognition that this had to end."

"There was just no way this wasn't becoming an issue for the (US-Australia) alliance," Shortis said.

Parents hail ending to long 'ordeal'

The parents of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday hailed the final stages of his legal "ordeal" following surprise news of an imminent plea deal for his freedom.

The 52-year-old Australian citizen was released from jail in London on Monday.

He was seen boarding a flight ahead of a scheduled court appearance in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific, on Wednesday morning local time.

Wikileaks said he planned to return to Australia.

"I am grateful that my son's ordeal is finally coming to an end. This shows the importance and power of quiet diplomacy," his mother, Christine Assange, said in a statement carried by Australian public broadcaster ABC and other local media.

"Many have used my son's situation to push their own agendas, so I am grateful to those unseen, hard-working people who put Julian's welfare first," she said.

"The past 14 years has obviously taken a toll on me as a mother, so I wish to thank you in advance for respecting my privacy."

US legal documents showed Assange had struck an agreement to secure his freedom by pleading guilty to a single count of revealing national defence information.

Assange was accused of publishing some 700,000 confidential documents related to US military and diplomatic activities, starting in 2010.

- 'More than difficult' -

His father, John Shipton, said he was a "little anxious to see whether all that's in the news is sincere" after learning of the dramatic developments through US media.

"The appearance is that Julian will be able to enjoy ordinary life with his family and his wife Stella, that is my understanding," he said in an interview with ABC radio.

"It looks as though Julian will be free to come back to Australia and my thanks and congratulations to all his supporters in Australia who made that possible and of course Prime Minister Anthony Albanese."

Albanese has repeatedly called for Assange's release, declaring earlier this year that "enough is enough" after the Australian parliament passed a motion calling for an end to his prosecution.

Shipton said his son had suffered during the "most productive time" of his life.

"I imagine that spending 15 years in one form or another of incarceration -- finally ending up in five years in a maximum security prison -- is difficult, more than difficult."

The approach to his son's freedom was "energising", he said.

"Congratulations to everybody -- it's amazing."

Assange had been detained in London's high-security Belmarsh prison since April 2019.

He was arrested after spending seven years holed up in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault that were eventually dropped.

Flight to stop in Bangkok to refuel

A plane carrying WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will stop in Bangkok to refuel, a senior Thai official told AFP on Tuesday, before flying to the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific.

"The flight will land around 11:50 am (0450 GMT) from London. It is expected to refuel and resupply with water before departing at 9:00 pm for Saipan island," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Assange is being taken to the US territory to face a judge as part of a plea deal expected to see him freed to return to his native Australia.

The 52-year-old has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate national defence information, according to a document filed in court in the Northern Mariana Islands.

He is expected to appear in court Wednesday morning local time and be sentenced to 62 months in prison, with credit for the more than five years he has served on remand in Britain.

Assange was accused of publishing some 700,000 confidential documents related to US military and diplomatic activities, starting in 2010.

He has been held in a high-security prison in London since 2019, after spending seven years holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in the British capital to avoid extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges that were later dropped.

WikiLeaks announced that he had been granted bail, taken from Belmarsh jail to Stansted airport, northeast of London, and put on a plane.

The plea deal ends a lengthy tussle over US attempts to extradite Assange from Britain to face charges under the 1917 Espionage Act.

The deal was not entirely unexpected. US President Joe Biden had been under growing pressure to drop the long-running case against Assange.