With bail having been granted by the High Court in London, Julian left Belmarsh the morning of June 24 and boarded a plane for Australia where he is from, leaving behind quite a legacy.
The media credited grassroots organizers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from all across the political spectrum, including at the United Nations (UN), for levying the global campaign that ultimately led to Assange's release.
A "long period," to quote one media source, of negotiations will now ensue with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to finalize a deal. Until then, Julian will be free to reunite with his wife Stella along with their children "who have only known their father from behind bars."
(Related: Check out our earlier coverage from back in May to learn more about Julian's efforts to appeal his extradition.)
Since the saga is a long one, there may be folks who have no idea what Julian's story even is, or what his Wikileaks project entailed and aimed to do. In essence, WikiLeaks functioned as a public platform for exposing government corruption, allowing whistleblowers from various sectors to do their thing more easily.
"WikiLeaks published groundbreaking stories of government corruption and human rights abuses, holding the powerful accountable for their actions," one media source explains.
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"As editor-in-chief, Julian paid severely for these principles, and for the people's right to know. As he returns to Australia, we thank all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom. Julian's freedom is our freedom.
The following video is a statement from Julian's wife Stella following his release announcement:
In order to get permission to return home, Julian had to plead guilty to leaking U.S. national security secrets. While not ideal, the plea deal allows Julian to end a nearly 15-year battle with the government concerning the whistleblower revelations that were shared through WikiLeaks.
Julian, 52, served 62 months in Belmarsh for the "crimes" to which he now admits guilt. He successfully avoided extradition to the United States where he would have been treated much worse, and now successfully resides back in his homeland Down Under.
All throughout Julian's talks with prosecutors, he made it clear that under no circumstances did he want to ever step foot in the U.S. He instead issued his plea in London rather than having to enter it in suburban Virginia, ground zero for the U.S. deep state (i.e., the pentagram-shaped Pentagon is located there).
"Finally, while this is excellent news for Assange and his family – and journalistic freedom everywhere – we can't help but wonder if this outstanding result would have occurred were it not for Biden heading into the first debate with Trump with his poll numbers in the toilet ...," speculated Zero Hedge about the impetus behind this sudden development."
"Who cares! They are; and Julian is free ..."
In the comments on YouTube, someone added to the conversation that Julian never actually committed any crimes.
"He just ticked off The Man," this person added.
"You pleaded guilty for being an honorable man who spoke up for truth and justice," wrote another in a personal message directed at Julian himself.
"May he be reunited with his family and allowed to do his work, which is necessary, a freedom of press, we have the right to know all the truth," added another.
More related news about the precious gift of free speech can be found at FirstAmendment.news.
Sources for this article include: