Julian Assange’s father hopes his son will take a year off to appreciate “the beauty of ordinary life” as the WikiLeaks founder is hours from touching down in Australia. Mr Assange is in the western Pacific US territory of the Northern Mariana Islands to front a US court on Wednesday, the hearing scheduled for 9am AEST. He is expected to plead guilty to a single felony of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information, a violation under the US Espionage Act.
The 62 months Mr Assange has spent in a UK prison is expected to fulfil the penalty he will be sentenced to, and from there he is expected to fly home to Australia. Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion. Speaking to the Today show on Wednesday morning, Mr Assange’s father John Shipton said he wanted his son to feel the sand of a beach between his toes.
“Julian hasn’t been home in 16 years. So it’s really a joyous day for us,” Mr Shipton said. Questioned on what Mr Assange would likely do once he was officially a free man, Mr Shipton said he hoped his son would learn to appreciate “the beauty of ordinary life”.
“Learning again how to walk along the beach and feel the sand come through your feet. And playing with his kids and learning how to have the patience to play with your kids for a few hours. That sort of thing.
Ordinary life really.” Mr Assange fathered two children, born in 2017 and 2019, with his wife Stella Assange while.