Susanna Reid has been forced to halt Good Morning Britain today early to deliver some major breaking…
The presenter, 53, was hosting the ITV show with Adil Ray, 50, when she revealed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, 52, has left the UK after reportedly agreeing a US plea deal that will see him plead guilty to a criminal charge and walk free.
Telling viewers the news had just been announced, Susanna explained: The controversial WikiLeaks founder has been held in Prison in London for the last five years, fighting extradition to the United States.
It is believed that the US has always wanted to extradite Assange to charge him in a US court, leading GMB’s Adil to suggest that his release has come “out of the blue. Correspondent Michelle Morrison agreed, saying it has brought 12 years of fighting for freedom to an end for Assange.
Following the announcement on the morning show, some viewers were divided as one posted on X, formerly Twitter: About time! He’s finally free! However, another expressed their concern that the journalist would “now be given celebrity cult status.
Assange thanked supporters via his WikiLeaks X account before seen boarding plane at Stansted Airport, London.
It comes after the WikiLeaks founder struck a plea deal with the US, according to court documents seen by NBC News after agreeing to plead guilty to breaching the Espionage Act, after which the US will waive his penalties, given his five-year stint in a British prison.
The Australian journalist has spent more than a decade fighting legal battles and international arrest warrants, after publishing US military data in 2010 that exposed alleged war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq – including a graphic video showing the ‘collateral’ killing of 17 civilians and Reuters journalist Noor- by a US helicopter crew.
Assange’s plea and sentencing are set for Wednesday morning (June 26) local time in the Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the Western Pacific. The journalist is expected to return to Australia.
His wife, Stella Assange, who he married in a ceremony in Prison in 2022, shared a pre-recorded statement addressing his release.
The Swedish-Spanish lawyer and human rights activist said: “Throughout the years of Julian’s imprisonment and persecution, an incredible movement has been formed.”
In a longer statement, WikiLeaks shared: “JULIAN ASSANGE IS FREE Julian Assange is free.
He left maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there.
He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK.
This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots , press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations.
