Julian Assange on his way to Australia
Jun 25, 2024 14:46:56 GMT 10
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Post by Wes Gear on Jun 25, 2024 14:46:56 GMT 10
Julian Assange on his way to Australia
Julian Assange is a free man and is on his way home to Australia.
Video shows Assange boarding a charter flight with no handcuffs, no visible prison guards or any other restraints.
The video released by WikiLeaks shows Mr Assange boarding a private plane at 5pm UK time on Monday.
The plane left London’s Stansted Airport at 6pm bound for Saipan, an island in the western Pacific Ocean. The reason Assange is flying to Saipan is so he can sign off on the plea deal in a United States territory.
“He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there. 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,’’ the statement said.
The group said the result was thanks to a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations.
“This created the space for a long period of negotiations with the US Department of Justice, leading to a deal that has not yet been formally finalised. We will provide more information as soon as possible,’’ a spokesman said.
Assange has been pursued by US authorities for years after publishing confidential military records supplied by former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010 and 2011.
He had faced 18 counts from a 2019 indictment for his alleged role in the breach that carried a max of up to 175 years in prison.
The United States will seek a 62-month sentence to reflect the amount of time that Assange has served in a high-security prison in London while he fought extradition to the US.
The deal would then credit that time served, allowing Assange to immediately return home to Australia.
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