Australia’s prime minister said on Wednesday that several recent secret missions to the United States helped craft the plea deal that led to the release of Julian Assange.
The 52-year-old WikiLeaks founder arrived in Canberra just hours earlier, having secured his release after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate US national defence information.
He had already been sentenced to five years and two months in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison by a court in the US Pacific territory of Northern Mariana Islands, and was allowed to move freely.
At a press conference in Canberra, Anthony Albanese said the US Justice Department had to make “a number of decisions” to pursue the plea agreement, stressing that the US Justice Department is independent and “not subject to political influence.”
The Australian leader told reporters that “a variety of people” had visited the US while the deal was being worked on.
“I’m surprised that some of the things that people in this room missed — some of the visits — but it’s not my job to tell you that,” Albanese said.
He advised journalists to “go back and look at some of the diaries and find out who has been to the US in recent months.”
Albanese said he had spoken “directly” with Assange’s lawyers during the talks.
The Prime Minister said that Australia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Stephen Smith, also met Assange at Belmarsh and acted as a conduit for communication.
“The details of the plea agreement were worked out over a considerable period of time,” he said.
“This was the only way I could see a solution being achieved — and the goal here was to bring these cases to an end.”
Albanese said he had never met Assange, but had spoken to him as soon as his plane landed in Canberra as part of a mutually agreed plan.
“I had a very warm conversation with him this evening. He very generously praised the efforts of the Australian Government,” he said.
“The Australian Government stands up for Australian citizens. That’s what we do.”
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