Canberra: Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, arrived in Australia aboard a charter jet on Wednesday after entering a plea deal with U.S. Justice Department prosecutors.
In a surprising twist to his lengthy legal saga, Assange, 52, . The unusual conclusion to this international criminal case unfolded in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, where Assange made his plea. This American commonwealth in the Pacific accommodated Assange's wish to avoid setting foot on mainland U.
S. soil. Assange had been transferred from a London prison to Saipan by charter jet, and he continued his journey to Canberra, Australia, on the same aircraft later that day.
He was accompanied on the flights by Australian Ambassador to the United States Kevin Rudd and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Stephen Smith, both of whom played key roles in negotiating his freedom with London and Washington. The flights were paid for by the “Assange team,” Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said, adding his government played a role in facilitating the transport. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Parliament that Assange’s freedom, after he spent five years in a British prison fighting extradition to the U.
S., was the result of his government’s “careful, patient and determined work.” “Over the two years since we took office, my government has engaged and advocated including at leader-level to resolve this.
We have used all appropriate channels," Albanese said. Assange’s.
