Julian Assange LATEST: Wikileaks to give press conference in Australia after founder strikes plea deal to return to homeland as a ‘free man’ despite admitting espionage charge in US-controlled court

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By Jamie Bullen

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Julian Assange returns to Australia today a ‘free man’ despite being convicted of espionage after taking a plea deal to bring the curtain down on his 14-year legal saga.

Mr Assange was wanted by US authorities after the disclosure of thousands of secret military documents in 2010 and spent more than five years in a British maximum security prison after being holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years.

The WikiLeaks founder was released without probation or supervision by a US federal court on the Pacific island of Saipan with a criminal conviction for espionage, and has now been banned from entering America.

He flew on a private jet to Canberra, the Australian capital, where he is expected to land at around 7.30pm local time (9.30am UK time). Wikileaks has scheduled a press conference at a hotel in the city at 9:15 PM (12:15 p.m.).

Follow MailOnline’s live coverage of the press conference below

Let’s first recap what happened earlier when Assange walked out of court after pleading guilty to a single charge of espionage.

The WikiLeaks founder was released without probation or supervision after a hearing in a US federal court on the Pacific island of Saipan.

However, he is prohibited from ever entering the US again without permission from US authorities.

Read the story of Nic White and Perkin Amalaraj here:

1719389262 527 Julian Assange LATEST Wikileaks to give press conference in Australia

Welcome to our live coverage of Julian Assange

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Julian Assange’s return to Australia following his release by a US federal court.

Mr Assange will arrive in his home country “a free man” after agreeing to a plea deal that ends his 14-year legal saga that saw him locked up in a maximum-security prison and the South American embassy in Britain.

The 52-year-old is expected to arrive in Canberra in the next hour and a press conference organized by Wikileaks will take place later.

We bring you the latest updates on Assange’s return, plus photos, videos and the best reactions from social media.

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