The WikiLeaks founder and once-fugitive Julian Assange lands in Canberra after a plea deal gives him "time-served" on a conspiracy charge for leaking US intelligence 15 years ago.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has landed in Australia, ending the former fugitive's decade-long diplomatic saga.
As he stepped off the plane, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking from parliament, welcomed his return.
"Earlier tonight I was pleased to speak to Mr Assange to welcome him home and had the opportunity to ask him about his health and have my first discussion with him," he said.
Mr Albanese said Assange expressed "praise" for the Australian government's efforts in returning him home, saying it took patient diplomacy.
Earlier on Wednesday, Assange pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy with a sentence of "time already served", in a deal that concluded the United States' pursuit of him for more than a decade.
The US had sought Assange's extradition from the United Kingdom since 2012 over the publication of classified US military intelligence through WikiLeaks.
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IIRC a password providing access to some of the full, unredacted documents was leaked, so despite Wikileaks vetting the documents some names did still get out. It was fairly quickly scrubbed and its believed that nobody was harmed in the end, but it got pretty close.