Australian leaders celebrate Julian Assange’s freedom but opposition says he is ‘no martyr’

SYDNEY - Mr Julian Assange spent his first night in 14 years as a free man back at home in Australia as the conservative opposition on June 27 cautioned the government against hailing the WikiLeaks founder as a hero.

Mr Assange landed in Australia to an ecstatic welcome on June 26 evening after spending more than five years in a British high-security jail and seven years in asylum at the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

He had battled extradition to Sweden on sexual assault allegations, and to the US, where he faced 18 criminal charges tied to WikiLeaks’ release in 2010 of hundreds of thousands of US classified military documents and diplomatic cables.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has been calling for Mr Assange’s release for several years, welcomed him home in a phone call, saying he “had a very warm discussion” with Mr Assange.

However, the conservative opposition raised concerns about portraying Mr Assange as a hero after he spent more than a decade trying to avoid prosecution and then pleaded guilty to one criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified national defence documents.

The opposition leader in the Senate, Mr Simon Birmingham, welcomed Mr Assange’s release but posted on X that “he’s no martyr and was never a political prisoner denied access to justice”.

He cautioned Mr Albanese against meeting Mr Assange and said the release could strain Australia’s ties with the United States.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, however, rejected his assertion, telling ABC Radio on June 27 that Mr Assange's release posed no threat to Australia-US ties.

Mr James Paterson, the opposition’s home affairs spokesperson, told Sky News that Mr Assange had evaded lawful extradition requests by hiding in the Ecuadorean embassy and used his legal rights in Britain to challenge it over many years.

“He is now someone who’s pled guilty to very serious national security offences, which are not just offences against the United States. They’re offences against the Five Eyes intelligence gathering alliance, including Australia,” he said.

The US State Department on June 26 said its involvement in the resolution of Mr Assange's case was very limited and reiterated its position that his actions had put lives at risk, although the US judge who accepted his guilty plea said there had been no personal victim.

The White House was not in any way involved in the case, national security spokesman John Kirby said, adding it was a Department of Justice matter.

Mrs Stella Assange, wife of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and lawyer Jennifer Robinson hold a press conference at the Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on June 27. PHOTO: REUTERS

Mr Assange’s supporters and free speech advocates view him as a victim because he exposed US wrongdoing and potential crimes, including in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

However, the US government has long said his actions were reckless and by publishing the names of government sources he had put agents’ lives at risk.

Mr Assange has not spoken publicly since being released. His wife, Mrs Stella Assange, said it was too soon to say what her husband would do next and requested privacy for him. REUTERS