WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange back in Australia after US guilty plea | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has returned to Australia after pleading guilty to violating a US anti-espionage law in a plea bargain that set him free.

A plane carrying Assange landed in an airport in the Australian capital of Canberra on Wednesday.

Welcomed by his supporters with applause, Assange was seen hugging his wife, Stella, and his father.

US authorities indicted Assange for his involvement in illegally accessing confidential US government records and publishing them on the internet in 2010, among other charges. He has been imprisoned in the UK since 2019 over a separate incident.

During his imprisonment in the UK, Assange was fighting an extradition request from the United States.

Assange appeared in a court in the US Pacific territory of Saipan on Wednesday and pleaded guilty. In exchange, the court ruled that he did not need to serve additional time and allowed him to Australia.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has been seeking Assange’s release, welcomed his return.

Albanese told reporters, “Regardless of what you think of his activities, Mr. Assange’s case had dragged on for far too long.”

He went on to say: “I have clearly and consistently at every opportunity and at every level, advocated for Mr. Assange’s case to be concluded. I am very pleased that this saga is over.”