Julian Assange's legal advisors and family have held a press conference in Canberra where they thanked supporters and politicians involved in achieving his freedom. The WikiLeaks founder's legal advisor Jennifer Robinson told media that while the plea deal means he will spend no more time in prison, the prosecution set a dangerous precedent for journalism. Stella Assange said she was overcome with emotion as she heard the crowd cheer for her husband's arrival and asked for space for him to recuperate.
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TVTranscript
00:00Good evening everyone. We are absolutely delighted to be home. It's a very emotional return home
00:10to Australia. It was a very long journey home to Australia. It started two days ago. Julian
00:18was released from bail in the UK early on Monday morning UK time. We had to spend 12
00:25hours in Stansted airport before we boarded a flight to Bangkok. Another 8 or 9 hours
00:32in Bangkok before we flew to Saipan where Julian entered his plea. We are absolutely
00:38delighted after a very long and complex negotiation with the US government that we've reached
00:45this plea deal that enabled him to come home to Australia as a free man. The agreement
00:53is that he will spend no more time in prison. The terms of the plea deal are, unfortunately,
01:02in order to achieve his freedom and to leave the high security prison in Belmarsh he had
01:08to choose to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage for publishing evidence of
01:15US war crimes, human rights abuse. In order to win his freedom Julian pleaded guilty
01:36to conspiracy to commit espionage for publishing evidence of US war crimes, human rights abuse
01:43and US wrongdoing around the world. This is journalism. This is the criminalisation
01:48of journalism. And while the plea deal does not set a judicial precedent, it's not a court
01:53decision, the prosecution itself sets a precedent that can be used against the rest of the media.
02:09It's important that journalists all around the world understand the dangerous precedent
02:12that this prosecution has set. An award-winning Australian journalist who's been nominated
02:16for the Nobel Peace Prize for these publications has spent more than five years in a high security
02:22prison because of this extradition request from the United States. We are absolutely
02:31thrilled that Julian is now home in Australia. I can say when we landed here in Australia
02:38I became very emotional the moment we landed and the Prime Minister was the first person
02:44to get on the phone to speak to Julian. Julian thanked him and the team and told the Prime
02:51Minister that he had saved his life. And I don't think that's an exaggeration. I want
03:11to take this opportunity to thank the Prime Minister, Prime Minister Albanese for his
03:15principled leadership, the statesmanship and diplomacy that he showed in leading the
03:22effort to bring Julian home to Australia. It was as opposition leader that he said enough
03:27is enough, that there was nothing to be served by Julian's ongoing incarceration. As Prime
03:33Minister he kept his word. He raised it at the highest level at every single opportunity.
03:40He has continued to ask the U.S. to bring this to an end and his efforts completely
03:48changed the situation for Julian and enabled our negotiations with the U.S. government
03:54that allowed us to reach this outcome. I also want to thank our ambassador to the U.S.,
03:59Kevin Rudd, our former Prime Minister, whose relentless efforts in Washington, working
04:05together closely with us, with myself and my co-counsel Barry Pollack, completely changed
04:11our relationship with the U.S. and completely changed the negotiations. Without his efforts
04:16and his adept diplomacy, we would not be in the position we are today and Julian would
04:20not be home. I also want to thank Stephen Smith, our High Commissioner in London, who
04:26worked tirelessly, and the team at DFAT, the consular staff who really facilitated our
04:32trip home and were incredibly kind to Julian along the way. This is a huge win for Australia
04:40and for Australian democracy. This is a huge win for free speech. This is a huge win for
04:47Australia that our Prime Minister stood up to our ally, the United States, and demanded
04:51the return of an Australian citizen. And that Julian came home today is the product of 14
04:58long years of legal battles, political advocacy, and ongoing campaigning, not just by us but
05:07by so many people in this community. A global movement was created around Julian and the
05:12need to protect free speech, and it's that global movement that has led to his release
05:16today. I really want to thank everyone who has joined us in this fight, who have supported
05:22us along the way, because without that support and the campaigning that's been done, we just
05:27wouldn't be in this position. Julian is incredibly grateful for the support that he's had from
05:33the Australian Government and from the public here in Australia, and we're delighted that
05:38he's home. He's finally home. I'm going to invite my... I'm happy... We might take questions
05:45at the end if that's okay, but I'd like to invite my US co-counsel Barry Pollack to come
05:52and address you about the play-doh.
05:58Good evening. Earlier this evening, earlier today in a courthouse in Saipan, we had a
06:07hearing that brought to a close a prosecution that never should have been brought. Julian
06:14Assange has, for so many years, sacrificed for freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
06:24He's sacrificed his own freedom. And finally, today, that tragic situation ended, and we
06:31are all grateful that Julian is back home in Australia where he belongs, back with Stella,
06:38back with his children, reunited with his father. It is unprecedented in the United
06:46States to use the Eskenaz Act to criminally prosecute a journalist or a publisher. It's
06:55in the more than 100-year history of that law, it has never been used in this fashion.
07:01It is certainly our hope that it will never again be used in this fashion. Julian spent
07:08years in Delmarsh. No one should spend a day in prison for giving the public newsworthy
07:17and important information, in this case, information that the United States government
07:22had committed war crimes, that there were civilian casualties exponentially greater
07:29than the United States government had admitted in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was definitely in
07:35the public's interest to have this information, and Julian provided it to the public. He performed
07:42a tremendous public service, not a crime. The problem with the Eskenaz Act is there is no
07:50First Amendment defense in the Eskenaz Act. It does, by its terms, not matter the reason
07:57why you publish the U.S. For years, the U.S. government has claimed that these publications
08:04did great harm. Today, in court, the United States government admitted that there is not
08:09a single person anywhere that they can produce that was actually harmed by these publications.
08:17Hopefully, this is the end, not just of the case against Julian Assange,
08:22but the end of the case against journalism. Thank you.
08:37I wish to thank the Prime Minister Albanese, the officials who have been working in DFAT on
08:48securing Julian's release. I'd also like to thank the Australian people who have made this possible,
08:58because without their support, there would not be the political space to be able to achieve
09:05Julian's freedom, and that support is across the board. I thank the opposition for also supporting
09:19Julian's release. It took all of them. It took millions of people. It took
09:31millions of people. It took people working behind the scenes, people protesting on the streets
09:44for days and weeks and months and years,
09:47and we achieved it.
10:10Julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. He wanted to be here.
10:17But you have to understand what he's been through. He needs time. He needs to recuperate,
10:29and this is a process. I ask you, please, to give us space, to give us privacy,
10:37to find our place, to let our family be a family, before he can speak again at a time of his choosing.
10:55I think it's important to recognize that Julian's release and the breakthrough in the negotiations
11:02came at a time when there had been a breakthrough in the legal case in the UK, in the extradition,
11:11where the High Court had allowed permission to appeal. There was a court date set for the 9th
11:18and 10th of July, an upcoming court date, in which Julian would be able to raise the First Amendment
11:26argument at the High Court. And it is in this context that things finally started to move.
11:39I think it revealed
11:47how uncomfortable the United States government is, in fact, of having these arguments aired,
11:55because this case, the fact is that this case is an attack on journalism, it's an attack on the
12:00public's right to know, and it should never have been brought. Julian should never have spent a
12:05single day in prison. But today we celebrate, because today Julian is free.
12:16We'll take 10 minutes of questions, just address them to the individual,
12:21and I'll tell you when we have the last three or so. I think the first question,
12:26the return of Julian Assange has revived this huge debate about whether his activities were right or
12:33wrong. And we've seen legal figures in the US and in Australia here say that he's no hero,
12:39that his disclosures put lives at risk. Some Democrats don't like the disclosures about
12:46Hillary Clinton, for instance. What's your response to this sort of fundamental argument
12:51that's been made against Julian Assange, that he put lives at risk, for instance,
12:56and that his disclosures were not in the public interest?
13:01Well, to start with, there's no evidence of any actual harm. And that's exactly what the
13:05US government acknowledged in court today in Saipan. So there is no evidence that anyone
13:11was physically harmed as a result of those publications. The public interest in those
13:14publications is clear. Evidence of war crimes, that the US had not disclosed the extent of
13:19civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, the use of torture and other forms of human rights
13:24abuse around the world. There is no denying the public interest in WikiLeaks publications,
13:29which is reflected in the reasons why WikiLeaks has won the Walkley Award for Most Outstanding
13:33Contribution to Journalism, the Sydney Peace Prize, the fact that Julian's been nominated
13:37for the Nobel Peace Prize every year since those publications. So to suggest that this
13:42was not in the public interest, I don't understand the basis from which they could
13:46possibly suggest that. And so I think this is clear.
13:51Stella, can we have a question? That moment on the tarmac where you embraced Julian,
14:01it must have been incredibly surreal. Was that the moment you realised that this was
14:06likely a sign of war? Yes, I was overcome by emotion when I first
14:16heard that there were crowds cheering that I didn't even know were there behind a fence
14:21because it was dark. And then I heard them cheer more and more and flashes and then I
14:28turned the corner and then I saw that Julian was coming. And we embraced and I mean, I
14:34think you've seen the pictures. I don't want to express in words what is obvious from the
14:40image. Stella, you've come today to join a side
14:44that has been barred away. What do you need to do to create and how do you feel about
14:48having to walk away? Julian needs time to recover, to get used
15:00to freedom. Someone told me yesterday who had been through something similar that freedom
15:11comes slowly. And I want Julian to have that space to rediscover freedom slowly and quickly.
15:23Jen, one of my colleagues mentioned the Podesta files earlier. I think he may not have read
15:30them. Could you, now you have the opportunity, just remind us of how that actually performed
15:35the DNC and the corruption within. The Podesta files were really good for the Democratic
15:42National Congress, yes? Look, there was a huge, there's clearly public
15:46interest in the DNC materials that was released by Wikileaks. And in terms of the legality
15:51of those publications, there's a US court decision showing that it had the highest
15:56possible protection of the First Amendment. So from a principal point of view, people
16:01might not like the politics of any particular publication, but that publication is absolutely
16:05protected by the First Amendment, as US courts have found.
16:08Jen, again, are there any post-release conditions for Julian from all theories?
16:16The US has said that he's banned from preserving, certainly putting in US
16:21gag orders, anything like that. And can you and Barry give us a sense of the negotiation
16:25with the DOJ, particularly given Julian's strong view that he was not guilty of a crime?
16:30I think it's best Barry speaks to the terms of the plea deal.
16:34There are absolutely no restrictions on Julian. The case against him is over.
16:40There is no gag order. There are no other restrictions. He is going to be able to go
16:48back to whatever life he chooses to build with Stella and his family.
16:55The negotiations were a protracted process that went on for several months,
17:10sort of in fits and starts. We were not close to any sort of a resolution until a few weeks ago
17:19when the Department of Justice re-engaged and there have been very intense negotiations over
17:28the last few weeks. One thing we were very clear about was that any resolution would have to end
17:38this matter and that Julian would be free, that he was not going to do additional time in prison,
17:44he was not going to do time under supervision, he was not going to do time under a gag order.
17:50So that was one absolute requirement. Another significant point of negotiation was
17:58where the plea would be taken. Julian did not want to come to the United States in any form.
18:06Ultimately, obviously, we negotiated Saipan under conditions where he would be released
18:14in the UK, he would come to Saipan not as a prisoner of the United States with the United
18:21Kingdom, and that we would come in and leave on the same day, which is exactly what happened.
18:29And other provisions of the plea that were very significant, the United States agreed
18:40that they are not going to bring any other charges against Julian for any conduct, any publications,
18:47any news gathering, anything at all that occurred prior to the time of the plea. So even if he had
18:54prevailed in the extradition proceeding, that would have just resolved this case. This resolves
19:00any possible case that the United States could bring against Julian for any subject matter,
19:07so that was obviously very significant to us.
19:12Thank you. Janet also, Stella, you called yesterday your hopes for a pardon to be granted to Julian.
19:20How do you see that playing out? Would you like the Australian government to support
19:23that call? What could be possibly done to actually achieve that outcome?
19:33Look, I think today we celebrate Julian's freedom. Today is the day that the plea deal was
19:44approved by the judge. I think it's also a day where I hope journalists and
19:56editors and publishers everywhere realize the danger of this
20:08U.S. case against Julian that criminalizes, that has secured a conviction for news gathering and
20:18publishing information that was in the public interest, that was true, that the public deserved
20:25to know, and that precedent now can and will be used in the future against the rest of the press.
20:39So it is in the interest of all of the press to seek for this current
20:49state of affairs to change through reform of the Espionage Act, through
20:58increased press protections, and yes, eventually, when the time comes not today, a pardon.
21:09Can I ask how hopeful and how confident are you that your husband will be pardoned?
21:18And what do you think has been at the absolute core of the shifting sands here that's enabled his release?
21:29I think freedom of the press is in a very dangerous place. It's not evidence that it will
21:39move towards more protections, but rather less.
21:45There needs to be a conscious and joint effort to push back, and
21:55that pushback should have resulted in the dropping of the case against Julian.
22:02Unfortunately, that didn't happen. That would have been the only good outcome for
22:11the press in general if the US government had abandoned this case entirely. Now you have
22:21the press in as vulnerable position as Julian has been, and that came the day the indictment
22:39came down. Let's be clear about that. That didn't come down with this conviction.
22:44Frankly, that mobilization should have happened years ago, and that's what enabled the conviction.
22:56I think he'll be pardoned if the press unites to push back against this
23:05precedent, because it affects all of you. It affects your future ability to inform the public
23:13and to publish without fear.
23:28What I can say from the phone call with the Prime Minister this afternoon when we landed is that
23:33he is delighted that Stella and Jordan are both now in Australia, and
23:37we certainly hope that at some point they'll be able to meet.
23:43Other small documents?
23:49Look, he just arrived in Australia after being in a high-security prison for over five years
23:55and a 72-hour flight or something like that. It's premature. Julian
24:04has to recover. That's the priority. The fact is that Julian is
24:13will always defend human rights, will always defend victims. He's always done that,
24:27and that's just part of who he is. He is deeply principled, and he remains deeply principled.