The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be judged poorly “for accepting a deal to get the hell out of there and come home” in light of his poor health, an Australian MP has said.
Australian politicians have reacted cautiously to reports of a plea deal to end the US pursuit of Assange in connection with the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as diplomatic cables.
The WikiLeaks X account tweeted that on Tuesday that “Julian Assange is free”, stating that he left Belmarsh prison in London on Monday and posting footage of him boarding a plane.
US prosecutors said in court papers that Assange, 52, has agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents.
He is due to be sentenced at a hearing on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific on Wednesday.
The Labor MP Julian Hill said: “No one should judge Julian for accepting a deal to get the hell out of there and come home. His health is fragile.”
Hill said he hoped “for the best now” and credited the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, with pursuing the matter relentlessly.
“Whatever you think of Assange he is an Australian and enough is enough,” Hill said.
“The prime minister deserves enormous personal credit for his judgment and determination, never giving up in pursuing resolution of this case.”
An Australian government spokesperson did not confirm or deny the plea deal, but said they were “aware Australian citizen Mr Julian Assange has legal proceedings scheduled in the United States”.
“Given those proceedings are ongoing, it is not appropriate to provide further comment,” the spokesperson said.
“The Australian government continues to provide consular assistance to Mr Assange.
“Prime Minister Albanese has been clear: Mr Assange’s case has dragged on for too long and there is nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration.”
The shadow foreign minister, Simon Birmingham, said the Coalition had “consistently said that the US and UK justice systems should be respected”.
“We welcome the fact that Mr Assange’s decision to plead guilty will bring this long running saga to an end,” Birmingham said.
There had been growing consensus within the Australian parliament, across party political lines, that it was time to find a way to secure Assange’s return to Australia.
Albanese, before he became prime minister, suggested that there was nothing to be served by Assange’s continued incarceration – a position that became the official Australian government stance when Labor defeated the Coalition in 2022.
Albanese has said he raised the matter directly with the US, including with the president, Joe Biden, during his visit to Washington in October 2023.
In February this year, Albanese and cabinet members supported a motion put forward by independent MP Andrew Wilkie urging the UK and US to allow Assange to return home to Australia.
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said he also raised the matter with his US counterpart, Merrick Garland, during a meeting in January this year.
