Assange 'marvelling at horizon' in Australia post-UK jail

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is "marvelling at the horizon" as he tastes freedom in Australia after a five-year stretch in a London high-security prison, his wife said.

The 52-year-old landed in Canberra the night before, hours after pleading guilty in a US Pacific island court to revealing military secrets and being sentenced to time already served.

The deal let him walk free after a 14-year legal struggle with the US Department of Justice.

"He's overjoyed to be back home. He's just marvelling at the horizon," Stella Assange told Australia's public broadc aster ABC.

Assange spent more than five years in London's Belmarsh prison after being dragged out of Ecuador's London embassy where he lived for seven years to escape extradition to Sweden over sexual assault charges that were eventually dropped.

'Time to figure things out'

The couple have not had time to discuss how their lives will play out since his release, said Stella, who met Assange while he was still in the Ecuadorian embassy and married him in the London prison.

"That's why we have asked for privacy and space and time to figure things out," she said.

"I packed the bags and got on a plane and got here to receive Julian. And what happens next? Well, hopefully rest, recovery and a period of calm."

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has been calling for Assange's release for several years, welcomed him home in a phone call saying he "had a very warm discussion" with Assange.

However, the conservative opposition raised concerns about portraying Assange as a hero after he spent more than a decade trying to avoid prosecution and then pleaded guilty to one criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified n ational defence documents.

'Never a political prisoner'

The opposition leader in the Senate, Simon Birmingham, welcomed Assange's release but posted on X that "he's no martyr and was never a political prisoner denied access to justice."

He cautioned Albanese against meeting Assange and said the release could strain Australia's ties with the United States, but that was rejected by Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

Wong told ABC Radio on Thursday Assange's release posed no threat to Australia-US ties.

James Paterson, the opposition's home affairs spokesperson, told Sky News Assange had evaded lawful extradition requests by hiding in the Ecuadorean embassy and used his legal rights in the UK to challenge it over many years.

Despite controversy and legal battles, millions worldwide continue to hail Julian Assange as a martyr for press freedom, highlighting his relentless pursuit of transparency and accountability in the face of powerful opposition.