WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Returns To Australia As A Free Man

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 26: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (2L) waves as he arrives at Canberra Airport on June 26, 2024 in Canberra, Australia. Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, returned to his native Australia as a free man, after attending the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands in Saipan on Wednesday. Following his guilty plea to a felony charge under the Espionage Act, Assange was sentenced to time served and subsequently released, allowing him to walk free after years of incarceration and intense lobbying for his release from across the political spectrum. Family, supporters and politicians welcomed his release and return, with Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying the case "had dragged on for too long." Assange's case has been a lightning rod for debates about press freedom and national security, with his supporters hailing him as a whistleblower who exposed government wrongdoing, while critics accused him of recklessly endangering lives by publishing classified information. His release marks the end of a tumultuous legal saga that spanned over a decade, involving allegations of sexual assault in Sweden, asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and a protracted battle against extradition to the United States. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)