WIKILEAKS is trying to raise more than half a million pounds to cover Julian Assange’s “flight to freedom” after it emerged it will land him with a £410,000 bill.
The organisation he founded is also seeking a further £110,000 to cover his “health recovery” costs.
Assange set off from Stansted at about 5pm yesterday after striking a deal with the US authorities which will see him plead guilty to one charge under the US Espionage Act in return for his freedom after a 14-year extradition battle.
He was photographed on the flight today and landing at Bangkok before heading on to Saipan Airport on the Northern Mariana Islands, where he will enter the plea, to avoid having to go to the USA.
Wikileaks today posted on X with a link to a Crowdfunder appeal: “Emergency appeal for donations to cover massive cost of jet and recovery.
“Julian Assange has embarked on flight VJT199 to Saipan. If all goes well it will bring him to freedom in Australia.
“But his travel to freedom comes at a massive cost: he will owe USD $520,000 which he is obligated to pay back to the Australian government for the charter flight.
“He was not permitted to fly commercial airlines or routes to Saipan and onward to Australia.
“In addition, and after 14 years of detention, including five years in maximum security prison, Julian’s health is in dire need of recovery.
“We are launching an emergency appeal to seek donations to help him cover the flight debt and substantial funds to ensure his recovery and well-being and safety upon his arrival.”
It has already raised nearly £30,000.
The charge will be that he conspired to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information.
The 52-year-old has served about five years in Belmarsh on remand after being removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy which had allowed him to live there for seven years.
Assange was charged with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information after thousands of top secret US cables about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were published online by Wikileaks.
This included a graphic video showing the ‘collateral’ killing of 17 civilians and Reuters journalist Namir Noor-Eldeen by a US helicopter crew.
Wikileaks and Assange maintain these were acts of journalism and in the public interest, but he has agreed to the deal in return for freedom.
However, the US insists that as unredacted documents, the activity endangered lives.
According to CBS, under the agreement, Assange will spend no time in US custody and will receive credit for the time spent incarcerated in the UK.
He is allowed to return to Australia, according to a letter from the US Justice Department.
Wikileaks posted on X in the early hours that Assange left Belmarsh prison on Monday after 1,901 days in a small cell.
He was then “released at Stansted airport” at about 5pm, where he boarded the plane and departed the UK” to return to Australia, the statement added.
The agreement, in which he will plead guilty to one charge, should be finalised in a court in the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday.
These remote Pacific islands are a US commonwealth, meaning he will not have to enter the US.
It has previously been claimed that the case against Assange was politically motivated.
In April, US President Joe Biden confirmed he was considering a request from Australia to drop the prosecution against Assange.
Assange had been due to begin a new High Court appeal against the extradition order later this year after a successful challenge in May.
Amnesty International had warned in April that, if Mr Assange’s imminent extradition were to go through, the journalist could face a sentence of up to 175 years in prison. It is understood that the five years he has spent incarcerated in Belmarsh will be counted towards his sentence after a guilty plea, under the deal made with US Justice officials.