Following a plea deal, Julian Assange was released Monday from prison in the United Kingdom and has since departed via plane.
Assange is currently en-route to Saipan, a U.S. territory, where he will plead guilty. Following the plea and sentencing, Assange will be allowed to return to his home country of Australia as a free man.
The plane, chartered by the Australian government, briefly stopped in Bangkok. Assange will owe the Australian government over half a million dollars to cover the cost once he has been released. Assange’s wife, Stella Assange, has asked for donations to cover the expense.
Stella published a statement about her husband’s release from prison in England, detailing that it had been 12 years to the day since Assange entered the Ecuadorian embassy in Britain, beginning the saga which would result in her husband’s detention in a high-security prison for the past five years. Stella added that “this period of our lives, I’m confident now, has come to an end,” and that “what starts now, with Julian’s freedom, is a new chapter.”
Commenting on the movement in favor of her husband, Stella said, “Throughout the years of Julian’s imprisonment and persecution, an incredible movement has been formed. People from all walks of life from around the world who support not just Julian…but what Julian stands for: truth and justice.”
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