Julian Assange’s mother grateful his ‘ordeal’ is ending as father welcomes ‘wonderful’ news

Julian Assange’s mother says she is grateful her son’s “ordeal is finally coming to an end” after the Australian citizen was released from jail in the UK to seal a US plea deal. Assange’s father described the breakthrough as “wonderful” and “energising”.

The WikiLeaks X account tweeted on Tuesday that “Julian Assange is free”, stating that he left Belmarsh prison in London on Monday and posting footage of him boarding a plane departing the UK.

US prosecutors said in court papers that Assange, 52, had agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents.

Related: ‘No one should judge’ WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for accepting deal, Australian MP says

He is due to be sentenced at a hearing on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific on Wednesday. The US has long pursued Assange in connection with the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as diplomatic cables.

Assange’s family members reacted to the breakthrough with relief.

“I am grateful that my son’s ordeal is finally coming to an end,” Assange’s mother, Christine Assange, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This shows the importance and power of quiet diplomacy.”

She did not name any individuals, but alleged that “many have used my son’s situation to push their own agendas”. She said she was “grateful to those unseen, hard-working people who put Julian’s welfare first”.

“The past 14 years has obviously taken a toll on me as a mother, so I wish to thank you in advance for respecting my privacy,” she said.

Assange was set to be reunited with his wife, Stella, who confirmed on X that “Julian is free!”. She thanked Assange’s supporters , saying “Words cannot express our immense gratitude to YOU- yes YOU, who have all mobilised for years and years to make this come true”.

Assange’s father, John Shipton, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation the news was “wonderful”.

“It is energising,” Shipton told the ABC’s Victorian morning program .

“I don’t fade easily, you know – and neither does Julian. It must be a family trait.”

Shipton said he last saw his son in person “a couple of months ago” in jail in London.

He said it “looks as though Julian will be free to come back to Australia and my thanks and congratulations to all his supporters … that have made that possible”.

“Australia’s his home,” Shipton said.

He thanked the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who had pursued the matter with the US and the UK since his election victory in 2022.

Asked if it would be hard for his son to accept a plea deal, Shipton said: “I imagine that spending 15 years in one form or another of incarceration, finally ending up in five years in maximum security prison, is a difficult thing – more than difficult actually.”

That included the years Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London from 2012 to 2019, before his diplomatic status was revoked and he was arrested. He was subsequently held in Belmarsh prison in London.

Related: Julian Assange released from prison, WikiLeaks says, after striking deal with US justice department

Assange had long fought the US extradition bid in the courts, with press freedom advocates warning that the case would set a bad precedent for reporting on matters in the public interest.

In a letter to a federal judge in the district court for the Northern Mariana Islands, a senior US justice department official said that Assange was being sent to Saipan because of its “proximity to the defendant’s country of citizenship”. The official added that once the sentencing hearing was completed, Assange was expected to travel on to Australia.

Australian politicians from across the political spectrum also welcomed the news , with the Labor MP Julian Hill saying: “No one should judge Julian for accepting a deal to get the hell out of there and come home.”

Additional reporting by Ed Pilkington in New York