Assange’s Wife Says He Needs Time to ‘Recuperate’ After Release

AFP/APP

Canberr: Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, requires privacy and time to recover after spending over five years in a high-security London prison, his wife Stella stated following his return to Australia on Wednesday.

Assange had hoped to attend a news conference shortly after his arrival in the Australian capital.

However, Stella, on the verge of tears, explained to reporters, “You have to understand, he needs time, he needs to recuperate, and this is a process. I ask you please to give us space, to give us privacy, to find our place, to let our family be a family before he can speak again at a time of his choosing.”

Assange arrived in Canberra on a chilly evening via a private jet, just hours after being released by a court in the US Pacific territory of the Northern Mariana Islands.

He had admitted to one count of revealing US defense secrets, which led to a US judge sentencing him to time already served in London’s Belmarsh prison—five years and two months. This agreement allowed him to walk free and return to Australia.

“He just arrived in Australia after being in a high-security prison for over five years and enduring a long 72-hour flight, or something like that—it’s premature,” Stella Assange said. “

Julian has to recover, that’s the priority, and the fact is that Julian will always defend human rights, will always defend victims, and that is just part of who he is.”

Assange’s lawyer, Jen Robinson, mentioned that he had spoken to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese upon landing and “told the prime minister that he had saved his life.”