London, 26 June 2024 (PA Media/dpa/MIA) - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is flying to his native Australia after pleading guilty to one charge in a deal that resolves a long-running legal case over the publication of classified documents.

Assange is set to touch down in the country's capital Canberra on Wednesday evening, where he will eventually be reunited with his wife, two young sons and other members of the family.

He appeared before a judge in the US territory of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific on Wednesday, pleading guilty to a single felony charge after the US dropped 17 other espionage charges against him.

Assange admitted to his role in the conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act and was sentenced to time already served in a British prison.

He wore a dark coloured suit and did not answer questions from reporters on the short walk into and out of the court.

The court hearing followed his dramatic release from Belmarsh Prison in London on Monday where he has spent five years, largely in solitary confinement, fighting extradition.

Assange left the UK on Monday evening and flew to Saipan via Bangkok after the plea deal was signed on June 19.

Speaking outside court after the hearing, Assange's US lawyer Barry Pollack said his prosecution was "unprecedented" and the WikiLeaks founder "suffered tremendously in his fight for free speech."

Pollack said: "The prosecution of Julian Assange is unprecedented in the 100 years of the Espionage Act, it has never been used by the United States to pursue a publisher, a journalist, like Mr Assange.

"Mr Assange revealed truthful, important and newsworthy information, including revealing that the United States had committed war crimes, and he has suffered tremendously in his fight for free speech, for freedom of the press, and to ensure that the American public and the world community gets truthful and important, newsworthy information."

He added that they "firmly believe that Mr Assange never should have been charged under the Espionage Act."

He said: “There was a very narrow agreed upon set of facts here and Mr Assange acknowledges that of course, he accepted documents from Chelsea Manning, and published many of those documents because it was in the world’s interest that those documents be published.

"Unfortunately, that violates the terms of the Espionage Act. That's what we acknowledged today. We also said Mr Assange said very clearly that he believes there should be First Amendment protection for that conduct. But the fact of the matter is, as written, the Espionage Act does not have a defence for the First Amendment."

Pollack added that the court "determined that no harm was caused by Mr Assange's publications."

Jennifer Robinson, another of Assange's lawyers, said the case set "a dangerous precedent" which should be a "concern" to journalists and people around the world.

"The US is seeking to exercise extra-territorial jurisdiction over all of you without giving you constitutional free speech protections, and anyone who cares about free speech and democratic accountability should stand against it," she said.

The plea deal brings to an end a criminal case of international intrigue and to the US government's pursuit of a publisher whose secret-sharing website made him a cause celebre among many press freedom advocates who said he acted as a journalist to expose US military wrongdoing.

US prosecutors had repeatedly asserted that his actions broke the law and put the country's national security at risk.

The leaks detailed thousands of civilian deaths as a result of the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, and implicated American armed forces in the killing of innocent bystanders, including a father and two Reuters journalists during an air strike on Baghdad in July 2007.

Assange will pay half a million US dollars for the chartered flight on which left Stansted, accompanied by a WikiLeaks lawyer, a representative of the Australian government and a medic to check on his health.

WikiLeaks has launched a fundraising campaign to pay for the flight which has so far raised more than £250,000 ($317,000).

Assange's wife Stella said on Tuesday her relief at his release was coupled with anger that he had spent so long in prison.

Speaking from Australia, Mrs Assange said: "It is hard to believe that Julian has been in prison for so long. It had become normalised. I am grateful to the people who made this possible but I am also angry that it ever came to this.

"Overall I am elated but I cannot believe it is actually happening until I see Julian."

She told the PA news agency that she travelled to Australia with the couple's two young sons Gabriel and Max on Sunday when it became clear that Assange would be freed.

Mrs Assange said her husband’s release would not have happened without the intervention of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has been increasingly vocal in demands for the United States to drop charges against Assange.

"The public climate has shifted, and everyone understands that Julian has been the victim," she said.

In a statement on Wednesday, Albanese said he is "pleased" the WikiLeaks founder is on his way to "reunite with his family."

"Over the two years since we took office, my government has engaged and advocated, including at leader level, to resolve this," he said.

"We have used all appropriate channels. This outcome has been the product of careful, patient, and determined work—work I am very proud of."

He added the federal government will continue to provide Assange with consular assistance as he settles into life in Australia.

"This is what standing up for Australians around the world looks like," Albanese said.

"It means getting the job done, getting results and getting outcomes. Having the determination to stay the course and I am very pleased that on this occasion, this has been a successful outcome that I believe overwhelmingly Australians did want to see."

Assange had been locked in a lengthy legal battle in the UK over his extradition, which saw him enter and live in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London in 2012 before his detention in Belmarsh Prison.

In a January 2021 ruling, then-district judge Vanessa Baraitser said Assange should not be sent to the US, citing a real and "oppressive" risk of suicide, while ruling against him on all other issues.

Later that year, US authorities won a High Court bid to overturn this block, paving the way towards Assange's extradition.

Assange was due to bring his own challenge to the High Court in London in early July after he was recently given the go-ahead to challenge the original judge's dismissal of parts of his case.

His release from prison comes days ahead of his 53rd birthday on July 3.