Jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange freed and leaves UK in US plea deal

Julian Assange was granted bail by the High Court in London and released from Belmarsh Prison on Monday following negotiations with US authorities over a plea deal, WikiLeaks has said.

In a statement posted on X, the official WikiLeaks account said Assange left the maximum security prison on Monday morning “after having spent 1901 days there”. The statement continued: “He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK.

“This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations.

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“This created the space for a long period of negotiations with the US Department of Justice, leading to a deal that has not yet been formally finalised.”

Court papers filed by the US Justice Department show Assange is scheduled to appear in federal court to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information.

It followed the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. He will return to his home country of Australia after his plea and sentencing, scheduled for Wednesday morning local time in the Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the Western Pacific.

Speaking on Assange’s release, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the nation’s parliament on Tuesday “we want him brought home to Australia”. He said: “I’ve been very clear as both the Labour leader and opposition, but also