By Shadrack Nyakoe
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been released from Belmarsh maximum security prison after serving a 5-year sentence.
Following his release, he boarded a flight from Stansted airport, as announced by WikiLeaks.
Assange, who spent 1,901 days in prison, was fighting extradition to the United States.
He is expected to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge related to obtaining and disclosing national defense information as part of a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department.
Sources indicate that Assange is en route to the Mariana Islands via Thailand, where he will formally enter his plea before returning to his home country, Australia.
Video shared online by Wikileaks appear to show Assange, dressed in jeans and a blue shirt, being driven to Stansted before boarding an aircraft.
Assange’s case has ignited vigorous debate about journalism, transparency, and government accountability.
His wife, Stella Assange, tweeted thanks to his supporters “who have all mobilised for years and years to make this come true”.
The deal – which will see him plead guilty to one charge – is expected to be finalised in a court in the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday, 26 June.
The remote Pacific islands, a US commonwealth, are much closer to Australia than US federal courts in Hawaii or the continental US.
Agence France Press quoted a spokesperson for Australia’s government as saying that the case had “dragged on for too long”.
His release is hailed as a victory for press freedom and a testament to the relentless efforts of his legal team and global supporters. The whistleblower’s freedom marks the end of a protracted legal battle involving charges related to WikiLeaks’ publication of classified documents that exposed war crimes and human rights abuses.
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