WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange is paying half a million dollars to fly to a remote island in the Pacific following his release from prison.
Assange, 52, was freed after five years when he agreed to a US plea deal but is refusing to set foot on the American mainland to finalise his bid for freedom.
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Released from maximum security Belmarsh prison in London on Monday, Assange boarded a plane at Stansted airport soon after.
Instead of heading straight home to Australia, Assange is jetting to Saipan, a tropical island 7,000 miles away from the US.
He has made a plea deal with the US to avoid extradition and jail time in the States, meaning he has to plead guilty to just one charge under the Espionage Act.
Assange has to appear in a US court to do this – and the island of Siapan, an American overseas territory – is home to a US district court.
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The WikiLeaks founder reportedly refused to set foot on the US mainland – preferring instead to go to the court closer to his home of Australia.
He is set to appear in the Saipan courtroom at 9am on Wednesday and plead guilty to conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents.
Saipan is the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the western Pacific ocean.
It is also about 1800 miles away from Australia, relatively close in comparison to other US overseas territory like Hawaii.
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Emily Crawford, a professor at Sydney University’s law school, told Reuters: “He has to front up to charges that have been brought under US law.
“It had to be US territory but it had to be the US territory closest to Australia that wasn’t a US state like Hawaii.”
After Assange pleads guilty to the one charge, he is expected to be allowed to fly home.
His 62 months in a London prison will act as time served.
Assange was originally accused of 18 charges under the US Espionage Act after WikiLeaks published confidential US military records in 2010.
The information included the Baghdad airstrike Collateral Murder video, Afghanistan war logs, Iraq war logs, and Cablegate.
American prosecutors alleged that Assange put lives at risk when publishing the information online, beginning the long legal battle to extradite him to the US.
Video shared by WikiLeaks on X yesterday showed its founder boarding a plane at Stansted around 5pm.
He travelled to the airport after his release by car, signed some documents and boarded the plane.
Assange video-called his wife Stella, at home in Australia, from the tarmac.
She told the BBC that the “priority” for the couple is to get Julian “healthy again”.
Stella revealed that the WikiLeaks founder has been “in a terrible state for five years”.
She said they will focus on being “in contact with nature” once he returns home.
Assange’s wife also said she is “elated” by the news of his impending return and that the run-up to his release has been a “whirlwind of emotions”.
His brother Gabriel Shipton says it is time for Assange to rest and have “a bit of quiet life for a while” at home in Australia.
Assange has arrived in Thailand on his way to Saipan, which is 10 hours ahead of London time.
His plane was pictured on the tarmac Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok while the plane refuels before heading onto the Pacific island.
Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese said that Assange’s case has “dragged on for too long” and added: “We want him brought home to Australia”.
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Timeline of Assange’s legal battle
2006 – Assange founds Wikileaks
April 2010 – Website releases leaked vid from a US helicopter allegedly showing an air strike that killed civilians in Baghdad
July 2010 – WikiLeaks shares more than 91,000 docs
August 2010 – Arrest warrant is issued for Assange over two separate allegations, one of rape and one of molestation, after he visits Sweden for a speaking trip. He is questioned by police in Stockholm and denies the allegations
November 2010 – International arrest warrant issued by Swedish police through Interpol after court approves a request to detain him for questioning on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion
December 2010 – Assange surrenders to police in London and is detained pending an extradition hearing. The High Court grants Assange bail
February 2011 – A district court in Britain rules Assange should be extradited to Sweden
June 2012 – Assange enters the Ecuadorian Embassy in central London, seeking asylum, after his bids to appeal the extradition ruling fail. Police set up an around-the-clock guard to arrest him if he steps outside
August 2012 – Assange is granted political asylum by Ecuador
July 2014 – Assange loses his bid to have an arrest warrant issued in Sweden against him cancelled. A judge in Stockholm upholds the warrant alleging sexual offenses against two women
March 2015 – Swedish prosecutors ask to question Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy
August 2015 – Swedish prosecutors drop investigations into some allegations against Assange because of the statute of limitations; an investigation into a rape allegation remains active
October 2015 – Metropolitan Police end their 24-hour guard outside the Ecuadorian Embassy but say theyll arrest Assange if he leaves, ending a three-year police operation estimated to have cost millions
February 2016 – Assange claims total vindication as the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention finds that he has been unlawfully detained and recommends he be immediately freed and given compensation. Britain calls the finding frankly ridiculous
September 2018 – Ecuador’s president says his country and Britain are working on a legal solution to allow Assange to leave the embassy
October 2018 – Assange seeks a court injunction pressing Ecuador to provide him basic rights he said the country agreed to when it first granted him asylum
November 2018 – A U.S. court filing that appears to inadvertently reveal the existence of a sealed criminal case against Assange is discovered by a researcher. No details are confirmed
April 2019 – Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno blames WikiLeaks for recent corruption allegations; Ecuador’s government revokes Assange’s asylum status. London police haul Assange out of the Ecuadorian Embassy and arrest him for breaching bail conditions in 2012, as well as on behalf of U.S. authorities
May 2019 – Assange is sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for jumping bail in 2012.
May 2019 – The U.S. government indicts Assange on 18 charges over WikiLeaks publication of classified documents. Prosecutors say he conspired with U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and release secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
November 2019 – Swedish prosecutor drops rape investigation.
May 2020 – An extradition hearing for Assange is delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
June 2020 – The U.S. files a new indictment against Assange that prosecutors say underscores Assanges efforts to procure and release classified information.
January 2021 – A British judge rules Assange cannot be extradited to the U.S. because he is likely to kill himself if held under harsh U.S. prison conditions.
July 2021 – The High Court grants the U.S. government permission to appeal the lower court’s ruling blocking Assange’s extradition.
December 2021 – The High Court rules that U.S. assurances about Assange’s detention are enough to guarantee he would be treated humanely.
March 2022 – Britain’s Supreme Court refuses to grant Assange permission to appeal against his extradition.
June 2022 – Britain’s government orders the extradition of Assange to the United States. Assange appeals.
May 2023 – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Assange should be released and nothing is served by his ongoing incarceration.
June 2023 – A High Court judge rules Assange cannot appeal his extradition.
February 20, 2024 – Assange’s lawyers launch a final legal bid to stop his extradition at the High Court.
March 26, 2024 – Two High Court judges in London give U.S. authorities three more weeks to submit further assurances, including a guarantee that Assange won’t get the death penalty, before deciding whether they will grant him a new appeal against his extradition.
May 20, 2024 – The two High Court judges rule that Assange can mount a new appeal based on arguments about whether he will receive free-speech protections or be at a disadvantage because he is not a U.S. citizen. The date of the hearing has yet to be determined.
June 24, 2024 – The U.S. Justice Department says in a letter filed in court that, under a deal with the agency, Assange will be allowed to walk free in return for pleading guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information.
Assange was held in the high-security Belmarsh Prison on the outskirts of London for half a decade.
The charges against him stem from one of the largest publications of classified information in American history.
WikiLeaks rose to prominence in 2010 as it published a series of leaks provided by a US Army intelligence analyst named Chelsea Manning.
Being in fear of the US government, Assange took refuge in the Embassy of Ecuador in London.
WikiLeak’s official X account, formerly Twitter, claimed that Assange was “free” and has already departed the UK.
The post read: “Julian Assange is free. 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.
“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.”
The post said it would provide more information “as soon as possible,” before adding: “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 groundbreaking stories of government corruption and human rights abuses, holding the powerful accountable for their actions.
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“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.”
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Biggest bombshells revealed by WikiLeaks
WIKILEAKS made a series of controversial leaks after being founded in 2006.
These included:
November 2007 – US Army manual for Guantanamo prison camp
One of the first big releases for WikiLeaks was a 238-page Army manual showing operating procedures for Guantanamo Bay. It revealed the US army were keeping some prisoners from Red Cross inspectors and holding new prisoners in isolation for two weeks to make them more compliant for interrogators.
November 2009 – Confidential messages sent on 9/11
More than 500,000 confidential messages regarding the 9/11 terrorist attacks were published on the site. They included exchanges between Pentagon, FBI, FEMA and New York Police Department officials.
April 2010 – Footage of US helicopter fire killing civilians in Iraq
WikiLeaks posted a leaked video from a US helicopter showing an airstrike killing civilians in Baghdad, including two Reuters staff.
July & October 2010 – War docs from Iraq and Afghanistan
Half a million classified documents about US military action in Iraq and Afghanistan were published. Information included civilian deaths, hunt for Osama bin Laden and Iran’s backing of militants in Iraq.
July & October 2016 – Stolen emails
In 2016, WikiLeaks shared 20,000 Democratic National Committee emails which US intelligence later said had been stolen by Russian hackers. They appeared to show the DNC favoured Hillary Clinton over opponent Bernie Saunders, and had provided her with debate questions in advance.
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