Assange to Speak to Public When Recovered - Stella Assange
© Sputnik / Alex McNaughton
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will make a public appearance after he recuperates from years of jail and legal battles against extradition to the US, his wife Stella Assange said on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, a US judge sentenced Assange to time served and would not impose any period of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to one of the US espionage charges as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors. The plane with Assange on board had arrived in Canberra at 09:37 GMT, the information from the flight tracker Flightradar showed.
"Julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. He wanted to be here. But you have to understand what he has been through. He needs time. He needs to recuperate. And this is a process. I ask you – please – to give us space, to give us privacy. To find our place," Stella Assange told the ABC broadcaster.
The whistleblower who spent 14 years in legal battles with the US and UK justice systems will speak to the public again "at a time of his choosing," his wife added.
Australians would prefer Assange released with all charges lifted - lawmaker
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) June 26, 2024
Australians would rather prefer if WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was let free with all the charges lifted, a lawmaker for Australia's city of Port Hedland, Adrian McRae, told Sputnik.
"For the 1st… pic.twitter.com/eDWgmvnj8K
Assange will continue to defend human rights, because it is "just part of who he is," his wife added.
"He is deeply principled. And he remains deeply principled. And unafraid," she said.
Assange’s wife also expressed her conviction that he should be pardoned. The US should have closed the case itself by dropping the charges, she added.
"I think that he will be pardoned if the press unite to push back against this precedent. Because it affects all of you. It affects your future ability to warn the public and to publish without fear," she said.
The press needs to work together to push for changes in the US Espionage Act, under which Assange was prosecuted, she said, adding that it would be in the interest of all media.
Assange, an Australian citizen, was transferred to London’s high-security Belmarsh prison in April 2019 on bail breach charges. In the US, he faced prosecution under the Espionage Act for obtaining and disclosing classified information that shed light on war crimes and human rights violations committed by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
