WIKILEAKS’ JULIAN ASSANGE LANDS IN AUSTRALIA AFTER PLEA DEAL An end to an extraordinary 14-year legal saga

Julian Assange has arrived in Canberra and been able to hug his wife, after being released from prison in the UK on Monday,  He pleaded guilty to violating US espionage law at a court in the US Pacific island territory of Saipan on Wednesday morning.

A charge that was brought under Espionage Law really meant to stop foreign spies stealing state secrets, not Journalists revealing the truth of what their country or big business is doing in the world.

The deal left him free to return home to Australia and brought an end to an extraordinary 14-year legal saga

Speaking to reporters outside the Saipan court, his lawyers called the prosecution “unprecedented” and an assault on free speech, but said it was time the fight came to an end. Assange spent five years in the high-security jail and seven years at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, battling extradition to the US, where he faced 18 criminal charges

Assange needs time to recover after his 14-year legal saga, his wife, Stella, said, following his arrival back in Australia. “Julian needs time to recover. To get used to freedom.

Assange’s lawyer Barry Pollack thanked the former Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, who now serves as the Australian ambassador to the US, along with the serving prime minister, Anthony Albanese.

Albanese had taken up the issue with the US president, Joe Biden. “This is what standing up for Australians around the world looks like,” Albanese said

Stella Assange asked supporters for help covering the “massive USD 520,000 debt” to the Australian government for the chartered flight as he was not allowed to fly on commercial airlines to Saipan and onward to Australia

Jennifer Robinson – A Human Rights lawyer said  her client landed…Robinson said she had become “very emotional” upon landing in Australia, and that Albanese had been the first to speak with Assange over the phone.