Julian Assange Is Free After 12 Years. Here's What's Next

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, 52, has been freed from a high-security prison in London and will soon return to his home in Australia. But first, Assange must plead guilty to a single count of violating the United States Espionage Act.

Assange arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday and is on his way to Saipan to enter the plea deal with the U.S. that will finally free him, resolving the legal battle over the classified documents that exposed corruption, violation of human rights, and civil liberties by the government.

Assange's wife, Stella, took to X/Twitter on June 24 to express her excitement. "Julian is free!!!!" she wrote, followed by a new video showing her husband. "Words cannot express our immense gratitude to YOU- yes YOU, who have all mobilised for years and years to make this come true. THANK YOU. tHANK YOU. THANK YOU." Stella urges the audience to follow the whistleblower website for "more info."

On April 10, 2010, the website released footage of a U.S. helicopter firing on civilians in Iraq. That same year, Swedish prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Assange on sexual assault allegations, a case that was later dropped when there was no evidence to be found. He began fighting the international arrest warrant, a legal battle that lasted over a decade. In 2012, the United Kingdom Supreme Court ruled for him to be extradited to Sweden to face questioning. Shortly after, Assange entered the Ecuadorean embassy in London and was granted asylum. In 2019, Assange was detained for "failing to surrender to the court" over a 2012 warrant, earning him a 50-week jail sentence.

In May 2024, the High Court ruled that Assange could sign a new plea agreement and thus granted him bail. This brings us to today. “Thirteen-and-a-half years and two extradition requests after he was first arrested, Julian Assange left the U.K. yesterday, following a bail hearing last Thursday, held in private at his request,” said Stephen Parkinson, chief prosecutor for England and Wales.

According to Stella, Assange's travel comes with a hefty price tag. Her husband will owe over half a million dollars for flying on a private jet, as he was banned from flying commercially.

She wrote, "Julian’s travel to freedom comes at a massive cost: Julian will owe USD 520,000 which he is obligated to pay back to the Australian government for charter Flight VJ199. He was not permitted to fly commercial airlines or routes to Saipan and onward to Australia. Any contribution big or small is much appreciated."

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