MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Assange lands in Canberra after 14-year ordeal

Assange, 52, deplaned from the executive jet in a dark suit, white shirt, and tie, and with his fist in the air

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange finally landed in his native Australia after completing a series of formalities with US authorities in the Mariana Islands. But it was his wife Stella who spoke to the press to celebrate his arrival after a 14-year ordeal which included a spell at Ecuador's Embassy in London plus a stay at the Belmarsh maximum security prison in the British capital. Assange was expected to appear in front of the media after arriving in Canberra on a private flight from Saipan.

“Julian wanted to be here today, but he has asked me to do so... You have to understand what he's been through. He needs time, he needs to recover and this is a process,” Stella Assange told newspeople at a Canberra hotel. She insisted her husband needed to “get used to freedom again” before he decides to “speak again” in public.

“I ask you to please give us the space and privacy to find our place and that our family can be a family before he can speak again when he chooses,” she stressed. “Julian will always defend human rights and victims,” his wife and former lawyer stressed. “He continues to be honored and courageous,” she went on while underlining that he “was not supposed to spend a single day in prison,” so “today is the day to celebrate that he is free.”

Assange, 52, deplaned from the executive jet in a dark suit, white shirt, and tie, and with his fist in the air greeted dozens of media and supporters who guarded and cheered him at the airport. He was greeted on the tarmac by his wife and his father, Australian architect John Shipton.

In the Northern Mariana Islands, Federal Judge Ramona Villagomez accepted the terms agreed between the US Department of Justice and Assange's defense, which resulted in his release after a saga that began in 2010 with the largest leak of classified documents in the history of the United States, revealing war crimes, attacks on civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the mistreatment of prisoners in Guantanamo, among other issues.

However, “Julian's journey to freedom comes at a huge price - Julian is obliged to repay the Australian government the $520,000 cost of charter flight VJ199,” Stella Assange wrote on social media without specifying whether she meant US or Australian dollars. Her husband “was not allowed to fly on commercial airlines or commercial routes to the island of Saipan and then to Australia. Any contributions are appreciated,” she also asked

In 2022, Assange married his former solicitor with whom he has two children.