Julian Assange arrives in Australia after US plea deal

Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, has landed in Australia after pleading guilty to violating American espionage law, in a deal with the US government ending a legal fight lasting more than a decade. READ MORE: The 52-year-old faces no further prison time and was told by the court that he was a “free man”. Assange was accompanied on his flight home by Australia’s former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd, now ambassador to Washington, and Stephen Smith, the former defence minister and Australia’s high commissioner in London. Read the best of our journalism: Subscribe to The Times and The Sunday Times YouTube channel: Find us on Facebook: Find us on Twitter: Find us on Instagram: https://