Julian Assange’s children don’t know he’s been released, wife Stella reveals
Julian Assange's wife has revealed her sons will meet him for the first time outside Belmarsh Prison when he lands in Australia after his shock release.
The wife of Julian Assange has revealed the couple's two children "still don't know" the Wikileaks founder has been freed from prison.
The campaigner, who spent several years living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to the US, was allowed to leave prison last night in a shock deal.
But speaking on BBC Radio 4's flagship Today programme, Stella Assange revealed she and her sons have already travelled to Australia in anticipation of her husband's release.
"All I told them was that there was a big surprise and the morning that we left I told them we were heading to the airport," she told host Mishal Husain.
"We got on the plane and I told them that we were going to visit our family, their cousin, their grandfather and so on. And they still don't know.
"We've been very careful because, obviously, no one can stop a five and a seven-year-old from, you know, shouting it from the rooftops at any given moment.
"And because of the sensitivity around the judge having to sign off the deal, we've been careful, just gradually, incrementally telling them information.
"They're excited to be in Australia though."
The family were reportedly notified less than 24 hours before Assange's release from Belmarsh prison, where he has spent more than five years fighting extradition to the United States since being forced to leave the Ecuadorian embassy.
After reaching a plea deal with US authorities, which is set to be formalised early on Wednesday, he was allowed to board a plane at Stansted Airport.
He is expected to plead guilty to charges under the Espionage Act of obtaining and disclosing information of national importance.
After a plea and sentencing hearing, scheduled for Wednesday morning local time in the Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the Western Pacific, he is due to return to his native Australia.
Stella Assange added their children, Gabriel and Max, had never seen their father outside of the visitors' room at the London prison.
A statement by WikiLeaks thanked “all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom”.
It added: “After more than five years in a 2×3 metre cell, isolated 23 hours a day, he will soon reunite with his wife Stella Assange, and their children, who have only known their father from behind bars.
“WikiLeaks published ground-breaking stories of government corruption and human rights abuses, holding the powerful accountable for their actions. As editor-in-chief, Julian paid severely for these principles, and for the people’s right to know."
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