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CANBERRA. – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange landed to an ecstatic welcome in Australia yesterday after pleading guilty to violating US espionage law in a deal that sets him free from a 14-year legal battle.
Assange disembarked from a private jet at Canberra airport just after 7:30pm, waving to waiting media and cheering supporters before passionately kissing his wife, Stella, and lifting her off the ground.
Assange has not spoken publicly since being released and did not appear at a Wikileaks press conference at a hotel in Canberra, where Stella Assange said it was too soon to say what her husband would do next.
“Julian needs time to recover, to get used to freedom,” she said. “I want Julian to have that space to rediscover that freedom.” She added she believed her husband would one day be pardoned.
Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has lobbied for years to free Assange, said he had spoken to him by phone after his plane landed.
“I had a very warm discussion with him this evening, he was very generous in his praise of the Australian government’s efforts,” Albanese said. – Reuters
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