Live: Julian Assange lands in Australia after walking free in US plea deal

Julian Assange lands in Australia after walking free on Wednesday 26 June from a court on the US Pacific island territory of Saipan after pleading guilty to violating US espionage law, in a deal that allowed him to head straight home. His release ends a 14-year legal saga in which Mr Assange spent more than five years in a British high-security jail and seven years in asylum at the Ecuadorean embassy in London battling extradition to Sweden on sexual assault allegations and to the US, where he faced 18 criminal charges. Watch more on Independent TV: The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking newsbrand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. Subscribe: Find us on social: TikTok / @independent Instagram / X (Twitter) / Facebook /