Australian government:
Assange must pay back money for flight
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange landed in Australia on Wednesday after his imprisonment (see video above). He has to pay back the money for the plane to the Australian government. Assange's wife Stella spoke of 520,000 US dollars (the equivalent of 486,000 euros).
The 52-year-old was therefore not allowed to take a scheduled flight. However, the costs should not be a problem, as 344,000 British pounds (the equivalent of around 436,000 dollars) had already been received on a crowdfunding website by the time he landed.
The flight number VJT199, which Stella Assange and WikiLeaks had previously mentioned on social media, had been the most watched connection worldwide for days. Many people also followed Assange's landing on social media.
Has not yet spoken publicly
Julian Assange did not want to speak publicly on Wednesday, but his wife did. "Julian wanted me to thank everyone sincerely. He wanted to be here, but you have to understand what he's been through. He needs time. He needs to recover," she said at a press conference in Canberra. Stella and Assange's father had picked up the 52-year-old at the airport.
Julian wanted me to thank everyone sincerely. He wanted to be here, but you have to understand what he has been through.
Stella Assange
The WikiLeaks founder had already thanked Australia's head of government Anthony Albanese by telephone for his efforts, said human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson.
Deal with the USA
Assange's arrival in Australia marked the end of a year-long odyssey after secret US documents were published on the whistleblowing platform he founded. The US government accused him of unlawfully publishing confidential military documents and thus endangering the lives of US informants. The material had been published in 2010 and concerned military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other things.
The Australian spent seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and more than five years in a British prison. For a long time, the US judiciary wanted to try Assange on espionage charges, for which he would have faced 175 years in prison. However, a deal has now been negotiated: A court sentenced the 52-year-old to around five years in prison, which he has already served.
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