Australian leaders celebrate Julian Assange’s freedom but opposition says he is ‘not a martyr’ By Reuters

Written by Peter Hobson and Kirsty Needham

CANBERRA (Reuters) – Julian Assange spent his first night free in 14 years at home in Australia as the opposition on Thursday warned the government against hailing the WikiLeaks founder as a hero.

Assange arrived in Australia to a rapturous welcome on Wednesday evening after pleading guilty to violating the US Espionage Act and being released by a US court on the remote Pacific island of Saipan, serving more than five years in a British-guarded prison.

His wife, Stella Assange, said it was too soon to say what her husband would do and asked for privacy.

“Julian plans to swim in the ocean every day. He plans to sleep in a real bed. He plans to taste real food, and he plans to enjoy his freedom,” he told a news conference in Canberra on Thursday.

Assange has not spoken publicly since his release.

He also asked for a presidential pardon for Assange. Suddenly, a judge in the US state of Virginia formally dismissed all charges against him.

Assange, who was held in the Ecuadorean embassy in London for seven years before being jailed, has previously fought extradition to Sweden for alleged sexual abuse and to the US, where he faces 18 criminal charges related to the 2010 release of WikiLeaks. thousands of US military documents and diplomatic cables.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has been calling for Assange’s release for years, welcomed him home by phone saying he had a “warm conversation” with Assange.

However, the opposition party has expressed concern about portraying Assange as a hero after he spent more than a decade trying to avoid prosecution and pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose classified national security documents.

The opposition leader in the Senate, Simon Birmingham, welcomed Assange’s release but wrote in X that “he is not a martyr and has never been a political prisoner denied access to justice.”

He warned Albanians against meeting Assange and said the release could damage Australia’s relationship with the United States, but that was rejected by Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

Wong told ABC Radio on Thursday that Assange’s release posed no threat to Australia’s relationship with the US.

James Paterson, a spokesman for the domestic opposition, told Sky News Assange had avoided extradition requests by hiding in the Ecuadorean embassy and had used his legal rights in the UK to challenge it for years.

“He is now a person charged with very serious national security charges, which are not just charges against the United States. Charges against the Five Eyes intelligence collection alliance, including Australia,” he said.

The US State Department on Wednesday said its involvement in Assange’s case was minimal and reiterated that his actions put people’s lives at risk, although the US judge who accepted his case said there was no personal victim.

The White House was not at all involved in the case, said national security spokesman John Kirby (NYSE: ), adding that it was a matter for the Department of Justice.

Assange’s supporters and free speech advocates consider him a victim because he exposed US wrongdoing and possible crimes, including the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

However, the US government has long argued that his actions were reckless and that by publishing the names of government sources he put the lives of agents at risk.