A lawyer’s offer, a judgment that foretold years of legal wrangling, and diplomatic pressure all played a part in the release of the WikiLeaks founder
Protesters hold placards outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London in February during the appeal by Julian Assange against his extradition to the US.Protesters hold placards outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London in February during the appeal by Julian Assange against his extradition to the US., the founder of Wikileaks, was woken in his small cell in the high-security Belmarsh prison, south-east London, and ordered to dress before being put in handcuffs.
The final moments of the Assange saga had been tightly choreographed. A social media-friendly video of Assange’s release into the hands of his British lawyer, Gareth Pierce, at Stansted was released by WikiLeaks along with a crowdfunding appeal to cover the $520,000 cost of the Bombardier Global 6000 jet that took him to Saipan. He had not been permitted to fly commercially.
Since May 2022, when Anthony Albanese led the Australian Labor party to victory in a federal election, Joe Biden’s administration had also been facing political pressure from Canberra to find a compromise that both sides could stomach.Assange’s father, John Shipton, disclosed that he had had several lunches with Albanese when the latter was in opposition, and had been assured that he would do “whatever he can” to free his son.
Hrafnsson said: “There’s been a lot of back and forth in the last few weeks. There were increasing communications and back and forth, suggestions, a feeling out on all fronts.
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