WikiLeaks founder Assange lands in Australia after U.S. guilty plea

CANBERRA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, on Wednesday landed in Australia after pleading guilty to violating the U.S. espionage act in a federal court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands.

This is part of a deal with the U.S. Justice Department to avoid further prison time for Assange and end the years-long legal saga.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the news, reiterating that the U.S. case against Assange had dragged on so long that there was nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration.

Assange was embroiled in a lengthy legal battle with the U.S. government due to his role in acquiring and releasing classified military and diplomatic documents between 2009 and 2011.

These files included hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. military documents related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.