The WikiLeaks founder is hours away from the Saipan court hearing to decide his freedom Achi-News

Before anyone outside his inner circle even knew it, the Australian journalist, who had been either a recluse or a prisoner, was out of London’s Balmarsh prison and out of the country, making his way to Saipan.

The 115 square kilometer outcrop in the Mariana Islands, a US Commonwealth of Nations in the western Pacific Ocean, is still nearly 3,000 kilometers from Australia, but closer than it has been to home for at least 12 years.

WikiLeaks shared video and photos of Assange’s journey as he made his way to London Stansted Airport, boarded the plane and arrived in Thailand.

Gabriel Shipton said the family were “absolutely overwhelmed” at the prospect of his brother finally coming home.

“We fought for this – for Julian’s freedom, for many, many years,” he told 9News.

“You know, it consumes our whole life. It’s a very overwhelming moment.

“Julian has a few … hurdles to jump through before he’s safe and sound on Australian soil.

“So we have all fingers and toes to do, to give him all this positive energy that it will happen.”

After flying accompanied by Australia’s High Commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, Assange will plead guilty to a crime under the US Espionage Act, ending a long-running legal saga that has spanned multiple jurisdictions.

In return, prosecutors will seek a sentence of just 62 months – the time Assange was held at the maximum security Belmarsh prison – allowing him to be released immediately while he has already served time.

The hearing is scheduled for 09:00 and his loved ones hope to see him again in Australia tonight.

British judicial officials confirmed that Assange left the UK on Monday evening (early yesterday AEST) after being granted bail at a secret hearing last week.

Mrs Assange told the BBC from Australia that the last 72 hours had been “touch and go” if the deal would go through, but she felt “elated” by the news.

She said the details of the agreement will be released after the judge signs it.

“He’ll be a free man once it’s signed by a judge,” she said, adding that she still doesn’t think it’s real.

The lawyer who married the jailed WikiLeaks founder in 2022 and has two of his children said her husband was not allowed to fly commercial airlines to Saipan or Australia and that the plane would cost US$520,000 ($783,300), and launched an online fundraiser.

The family and supporters of the WikiLeaks founder praised the efforts of Australian officials to free him, which was publicly marked by a motion in parliament in February calling for the Australian citizen to be allowed to return home, saying “this thing cannot just go on and on and on indefinitely.”

“Regardless of the views people have about Mr Assange’s activities, the case has dragged on for far too long,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told parliament yesterday.

“There is nothing to gain from his continued imprisonment and we want him to be brought home to Australia.”

The sentiments echoed across the political spectrum in Australia, with MPs and senators from the government, the coalition and the benches welcoming the development.

Assange has been hailed by many around the world as a hero for exposing military injustices in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among the files released by WikiLeaks was a video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by US forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists.

But his reputation was also tarnished by allegations of rape, which he denied and which Swedish authorities eventually dropped because so much time had passed.

The US Justice Department’s indictment unsealed in 2019 accused Assange of encouraging and helping US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to steal diplomatic cables and military files released by WikiLeaks in 2010.

Prosecutors accused Assange of harming national security by publishing documents that harmed the United States and its allies and aided its adversaries.

The case was dismissed by press supporters and Assange supporters. Federal prosecutors defended this as intentional conduct that went far beyond that of a journalist gathering information, and amounted to an attempt to solicit, steal and indiscriminately publish classified government documents.

Shipton said his brother was looking forward to “the simple pleasures that Julian has been denied for the past 13 years”: visiting favorite places in Melbourne, hearing birds in the bush, swimming in the ocean.

Assange’s mother, Christine, said she was grateful that “his ordeal is finally coming to an end”.

“It shows the importance and power of quiet diplomacy,” she said

“Many have used my son’s situation to push their own agendas, so I am grateful to those invisible and hard-working people who are putting Julian’s best interests first.

“Obviously, the last 14 years have taken a toll on me as a mother, so I want to thank you in advance for respecting my privacy.”

Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012 and was granted political asylum after English courts ruled he should be extradited to Sweden as part of a rape investigation in the Scandinavian country.

He was arrested by British police after the Ecuadorian government removed his asylum status in 2019 and was later jailed for skipping bail when he first took refuge in the embassy.

— Reported with Daniel Jeffrey and the Associated Press.,