WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has landed back home in Australia, a free man for the first time in 12 years, after a US judge signed off on his unexpected plea deal on Wednesday morning.
Cheers erupted from supporters gathered at Canberra Airport in the Australian capital, as Assange disembarked the aircraft. He waved to the crowds as he walked across the tarmac.
As he approached the terminal, his wife Stella emerged with a broad smile on her face. Assange pulled her into hug, lifting her off the floor before the pair kissed.
“Julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. He wanted to be here. But you have to understand what he’s been through. He needs time, he needs to recuperate and this is a process,” she said at a press conference after her husband’s arrival.
With tears in her eyes, Stella took several brief pauses in an apparent bid to gather her emotions as she spoke to reporters. “I ask you please, to give us space, to give us privacy, to find our place, to let our family be a family, before he can speak again, at a time of his choosing,” she added. (CNN)
