WATCH: Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Leaves UK After Securing DOJ Plea Deal
WikiLeaks published a video Monday that showed its founder, Julian Assange, en route to London’s Stansted Airport and boarding a flight after being released from a high-security prison, where he was held for five years.
Assange is set to return to Australia after securing a plea deal with the Justice Department, ending a decade-long legal saga.
The 52-year-old was released from a British prison on bail and is expected to plead guilty to violating U.S. espionage law. He agreed to a single count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified national defense documents. This deal allows him to return home to Australia, credited for the five years he served, with no new jail time.
Footage released on Monday showed Assange’s journey to the airport from prison, where a WikiLeaks video captured him boarding a plane. He landed in Bangkok, Thailand, for refueling before heading to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific for his sentencing.
The Wikileaks founder’s wife Stella Assange told the Press Association that his journey from the UK to Australia, with stops, will cost $500,000. She also told Reuters that a fundraising campaign will be launched to cover these expenses.
“Regardless of the views that people have about Julian Assange and his activities, the case has dragged on for too long,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Assange’s legal battles began in 2010 with a European arrest warrant from Sweden over sex-crime allegations, which were later dropped. During that time he spent seven years in Ecuador’s embassy in London after seeking asylum there, concerned primarily that extradition to Sweden would mean subsequent extradition to the U.S.
Eventually, Ecuador turned Assange over into British custody in 2019 at which point he was detained in Belmarsh prison for breach of bail.