Julian Assange's 'priority' is to 'get healthy again' following release, wife says — as it happened (2024)

Thank you for following our live blog, we will we back tomorrow with the latest.

Here's a quick overview of what is expected to happen next:

• Assange is expected to touch down in Saipan, the capital of Northern Mariana Islands, at about 6am AEST tomorrow.
• He will face court tomorrowabout 9am AEST.
• Assange is expected toplead guilty to one charge, relating to the Espionage Act.
• The US Department of Justice (DOJ) expects Assange will return to Australia"at the conclusion of proceedings".

In the meantime, you can look back on today's developments below, ordownload theABC News appandsubscribe to our range of news alertsfor the latest updates.

Former European bureau chiefSteve Cannane spoke to ABC News earlier about the deal.

He suggested the Russian detention of Wall Street Journal reporterEvan Gershkovich may have had an influence on the decision.

"[Gershkovich has] been in Russia for a number of years; an incredibly good reporter who is being charged with espionage, something that he denies, his newspaper denies, the US government denies.

"He has been in pretrial detention for 15 months now.

"It is, for the US, a difficult situation that one of their citizens is being prosecuted in a sham trial for espionage in Russia while they're prosecuting a publisher for espionage as well."

Assange's plane touched down in Bangkokabout five hours ago.

Thai officials earlier said it was stopping there to refuel.

Assange is then scheduled to continue on to Saipan, a United States territory in the Pacific, officials told the Associated Press.

He is expected to land there about 6am local time on Wednesday and begin court proceedings at 9am.

Assange published thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks, a whistle-blowing website he co-founded in 2006.

Among the most notable was a video published in 2010, which was taken from a US military helicopter showing the killing of 18 civilians in Baghdad, Iraq.

Wikileaks also published secret documents leaked by former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning that same year.

In that release, it was revealed the US military had killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents in Afghanistan.

A task force set up by the US to investigate the leaks said the leaks put foreign US sources at risk.

Assange has agreed to plead guilty to one count of espionage and is due to be sentenced to 62 months of time already served.

The High Court in London has just released an order it "sealed" today relating to Julian Assange's case.

While Assange has left the country, this is where his legal proceedings have been held for over a decade, and, where he was due in court next week for an appeal hearing.

The order says a "plea agreement" was signed by the parties (Julian Assange and the US Government) on June 19.

It says conditional bail was approved to allow Assange to travel to Saipan (a US overseas territory) to attend a District Court hearing there.

Assange was charged with 18 criminal offences in the US, including obtaining, receiving and disclosing classified information.

The order released by the High Court in London says the agreement is for Assange to plead guilty to one of them, with a "proposed sentence of time served". That means that he will be free to travel to Austraila after he enters a plea.

It says it is "anticipated that a plea will be entered on Wednesday" and that after it is, "the United States have undertaken to withdraw the extradition request".

Here's the full document:

It is important for Australia to recognise that Julian Assange "is in a long line of great Australian journalists" who have exposed military misbehaviour, and to welcome him back home, human rights barrister Geoffrey Robertson said.

Mr Robertson has formerly represented Assange.

"He has been badly affected, particularly by the last five years in Belmarsh prison which is one of the most horrid in Britain", he said.

"He certainly needs some rest and recreation, and it will be appropariate to welcome him back to Australia.

"I don't agree with all of his political views and many don't but he should not have been incarcerated for all this time."

Watch the interview below:

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If you need a quick rundown on his background, here's a timeline of Julian Assange's career and imprisonment.

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Locals in Saipan have been surprised to learn the news of Julian Assange's impending arrival on their island, local journalist Thomas Manglona from KUAM News said.

"No one saw this coming here to Saipan," Mr Manglona told ABC News.

"This is one for the history books for sure."

The small Pacific island is a United States territory and home to a US federal court where a decision will be made on Assange's plea after his hearing begins at 9am local time.

"According to some court filings that we were able to obtain, Julian Assange did not want to go to the continental US to file his guilty plea as a part of that plea deal," Mr Manglona said.

"Also, this US court is the closest to Australia, where he's expected to return immediately after the court proceedings.

Many of the island's population of just over 40,000 know Assange's story, Mr Manglona said.

"Everyone I've spoken with so far has told me they're even going to try and go to the courtroom tomorrow to watch this history unfold and we'll see if that plea deal does in fact solidify as it's expected to be."

Watch the full interview below.

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Reporting by Doug Dingwall

Saipan is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands in the northern Pacific Ocean.

The 14 islands that make up the self-governing US territory has a population of about 50,000 and are located more than 11,000km from continental United States.

They have a governor, a non-voting delegate of the US Congress, and the people who live there are subject to US laws.

Harry Melkonian, an honorary associate at the US Studies Centre of the University of Sydney, said like other US territories, the Northern Marianas also have a District Court.

A court document revealed Saipan was chosen as the location of the hearing "in light of the defendant's opposition to travelling to the continental United States" and its proximity to Australia.

Another reason may be the remote location of the islands.

"You can see why he would like that. It wouldn't have all the commotion of appearing in New York, Washington or San Francisco," Dr Melkonian said.

"It'll be somewhat more private, because it's pretty hard to get there."

Julian Assange's brother Gabriel Shipton has told 7.30 the WikiLeaks founder was "excited but anxious" about his release from the UK's Belmarsh Prison and planned return to Australia.

"Julian has been preparing to get on this flight and ... he's been very excited, a little bit anxious, mostly excited about being free after all these years," Mr Shipton said.

"It's over 13 years in one form of detention or another in the United Kingdom.

"Hopefully he's home soon. He's most of the way back and now, so I can't really see any any hiccups coming."

Watch the full interviewwith Gabriel Shipton on 7.30, via ABC iview.

Are you still trying to understand the importance of today's development?

Or trying to understand what Assange wascharged with and why is he now a 'free man'?

Have all your questions answered with this explainer from Dannielle Maguire:

WikiLeaks has shared a fresh picture of its founder on a plane, as he was approaching Bangkok.

"Moving closer to freedom," the post of social media platform X says.

Assange's wife Stella says, once Assange is released, it will be her first time seeing her husband without restrictions.

The pair met while he was under house arrest.

"It will be the first time I get to see him as a fully free man," she tells Reuters.

"I said, you know, we can go for a walk and there will be no restrictions, no curfew.

"It's so alien to the way it has been until now."

We've just been given our first glimpse at the Saipan court Assange will front tomorrow.

He's expected to appear around 9am AEST.

Stella Assange, Assange's wife, is now speaking to Reuters.

She says he will seek a pardon, after pleading guilty to violating US espionage law, saying the prosecution was a "very serious concern" for journalists around the world.

"The fact that there is a guilty plea, under the Espionage Act in relation to obtaining and disclosing National Defence information, is obviously a very serious concern for journalists and national security journalists in general," she says.

The United Nations has called Britain's release of Assange a "significant" step "towards definitively settling this case".

"We welcome the release of Julian Assange from detention in the UK," UN rights office spokeswoman Liz Throssell told AFP.

"As we had noted repeatedly, this case raised a series of human rights concerns."

Reporting by AFP

Eagle-eyed plane spotters at the ABC have noticed that the jet transporting Assange appears to be the same charter jet that Taylor Swift reportedly flew to Australia and between Melbourne and Sydney when performing here on her Eras Tour.

The 9H-VTD jet is operated by VistaJet, a charter airline that hires planes to members for private flights worldwide.

Swift, whose private jet use has been scrutinised online by flight trackers, sold her own private jet in January right before her Australia trip.

Swift is believed to have used the same jet to rush from her final Tokyo show back to the United States to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce play in the Super Bowl in Las Vegas in February.

Reuters has spoken to Assange's brother Gabriel Shipton who is in France.

He says their family is "over the moon that he is free".

"There is a little bit of a way to go until he is safe and sound, back on Australian soil, but I think everybody is working on this," he adds.

Jodie Ginsberg from the Committee to Protect Journalists is elated with the news of Julian Assange's plea deal.

You can watch the full video of her reaction here:

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