First shot of Julian Assange leaving UK on flight from Stansted
Wikileaks posted a video on X showing Assange boarding a plane which it said would take him to Australia to be reunited with his wife Stella Assange and children, who he has only ever seen in prison.
VIDEO has been released appearing to show Wikileaks founder Julian Assange boarding a flight to leave the UK after his 12-year battle against a US extradition bid is set to come to an end.
Wikileaks posted a video on X showing Assange boarding a plane which it said would take him from the UK to ultimately be reunited with his wife Stella Assange and children, who he has only ever seen in prison, after the deal is completed in Northern Mariana Islands.
She said: "This period of our life, I'm confident will soon come to an end and this time next week he will be free."
It was after after his lawyers strick a deal with US authorities that will see him plead guilty to a criminal charge under the Espionage Act, for conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information, but face no more time in jail.
The 52-year-old has served about five years in Bellmarsh on remand after being removed fromth Ecuadorian Embassy which had allowed him to live there for seven years.
Assange was charged with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information after thousands of top secret US cables about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were published online by Wikileaks.
This included a graphic video showing the 'collateral' killing of 17 civilians and Reuters journalist Namir Noor-Eldeen by a US helicopter crew.
Julian Assange appears to board plane to leave UK
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Assange maintains these were acts of journalism and in the public interest.
However, the US insists that as unredacted documents, the activity endangered lives.
According to CBS, under the agreement, Assange will spend no time in US custody and will receive credit for the time spent incarcerated in the UK.
He is allowed to return to Australia, according to a letter from the US Justice Department.
Wikileaks posted on X in the early hours that Assange left Belmarsh prison on Monday after 1,901 days in a small cell.
He was then "released at Stansted airport" at about 5pm, where he boarded the plane and departed the UK" to return to Australia, the statement added.
The video shared on X by Wikileaks appears to show Assange wearing jeans and a blue shirt, first being driven to Stansted before boarding the aircraft.
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The video has yet to be independently verified.
The agreement, in which he will plead guilty to one charge, should be finalised in a court in the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday.
These remote Pacific islands are a US commonwealth, meaning he will not have to enter the US.
It has previously been claimed that the case against Assange was politically motivated.
In April, US President Joe Biden confirmed he was considering a request from Australia to drop the prosecution against Assange.
Assange had been due to begin a new High Court appeal against the extradition order later this year after a succesful challenge in May.
Amnesty International had warned in April that, if Mr Assange's imminent extradition were to go through, the journalist could face a sentence of up to 175 years in prison. It is understood that the five years he has spent incarcerated in Belmarsh will be counted towards his sentence after a guilty plea, under the deal made with US Justice officials.
A statement from Wikileaks which was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, said: “Julian Assange is free. He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of June 24, 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.
“This is the result of 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.
“After more than five years in a 2×3 metre cell, isolated 23 hours a day, he will soon reunite with his wife Stella Assange, and their children, who have only known their father from behind bars.
“WikiLeaks published ground-breaking stories of government corruption and human rights abuses, holding the powerful accountable for their actions. As editor-in-chief, Julian paid severely for these principles, and for the people’s right to know.
“As he returns to Australia, we thank all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom. Julian’s freedom is our freedom.”
