Julian Assange's brother has revealed the WikiLeaks founder could move 'to the Australian bush' to 'rest and recover' following his release from Belmarsh prison.
Gabriel Shipton says 'now is the time' for his sibling to rest and 'have a bit of quiet life for a while' in the backwoods or hinterland areas in his native country.
A plea deal with US authorities over spy charges means the 52-year-old is apparently a free man.
Court papers filed by the US Justice Department show Assange is scheduled to appear in federal court to plead guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defence information.
WikiLeaks published footage of Assange being driven from Belmarsh jail inLondon, where he has been detained for five years, to Stansted Airport. He then boarded a private jet that landed in Bangkok, Thailand to refuel.
Julian Assange's brother Gabriel Shipton has revealed the WikiLeaks founder could move 'to the Australian bush' to 'rest and recover' following his release from Belmarsh prison
Video posted to X by WikiLeaks showed Assange, seated and dressed casually in jeans and a shirt, discussing the text on a sheet of paper
Assange has been a wanted man since 2010 when WikiLeaks released hundreds of thousands of classified US military documents on Washington's wars inAfghanistan and Iraq - the largest security breaches of their kind in US military history - along with swathes of diplomatic cables.
Mr Shipton told Sky News: 'I think now is the time for him to rest and really recuperate, be with his family and have a bit of a quiet life for a while.'
Pressed on where that quiet life would be and where home is, he added: 'Hopefully somewhere quiet and out of the way where he can go outside and feel the sun on his face and be in the Australian bush or something like that.
'So that he can have a chance to really rest and recover and spend some time with us. It will just be nice to enjoy a meal with him when he is back home in Australia.'
Assange will return to Australia after his plea and sentencing, scheduled for tomorrow morning local time in the Mariana Islands, a US commonwealth in the Western Pacific.
The official WikiLeaks account said Assange was granted bail by the High Court in London and released from Belmarsh Prison yesterday morning 'after having spent 1,901 days there'.
Video posted to X by WikiLeaks showed Assange, seated and dressed casually in jeans and a shirt, discussing the text on a sheet of paper.
He is then shown walking up steps onto a Vista Jet aircraft.
Stella Assange and WikiLeaks chiefKristinn Hrafnsson speaking outside Belmarsh prison in a pre-recorded video
On Tuesday morning, Stella shared an image on X of her husband video-calling her from Stansted airport on Monday
Assange,who has been sought for over a decade over allegations he hacked the US government, today left HMP Belmarsh in London and flew out of the country on a flight from Stansted at 5pm today
A plane, understood to be carrying Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, is pictured on the tarmac at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok today
Speaking on Assange's release, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the nation's parliament on Tuesday 'we want him brought home to Australia'.
He said: 'I've been very clear as both the Labour leader and opposition, but also as prime minister that - regardless of the views that people have about Mr Assange's activities - the case has dragged on for too long.
'There is nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration and we want him brought home to Australia.'
A letter to the United States chief judge of the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands Ramona V Manglona, as seen by the PA news agency, also confirmed Assange intends to return to Australia once proceedings conclude.
The WikiLeaks statement also thanked 'all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom'.
It said: 'After more than five years in a 2x3 metre cell, isolated 23 hours a day, he will soon reunite with his wife Stella Assange, and their children, who have only known their father from behind bars.
'WikiLeaks published ground-breaking stories of government corruption and human rights abuses, holding the powerful accountable for their actions. As editor-in-chief, Julian paid severely for these principles, and for the people's right to know.
'As he returns to Australia, we thank all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom. Julian's freedom is our freedom.'
In a separate post on X, Mrs Assange said: 'Julian is free!!!!
'Words cannot express our immense gratitude to YOU- yes YOU, who have all mobilised for years and years to make this come true. THANK YOU. tHANK YOU. THANK YOU.'
Assange's mother, Christine Assange, told Australia's Sky News that she is 'grateful' her son's ordeal is 'finally coming to an end'.
She said: 'This shows the importance and power of quiet diplomacy. Many have used my son's situation to push their own agenda, so I am grateful to those unseen, hard-working people who put Julian's welfare first.
'The past 14 years have obviously taken a toll on me as a mother, so I wish to thank you in advance for respecting my privacy.'
Reacting to the plea deal, Alexander Downer, the former foreign secretary of Australia, told BBC Radio 4 Today on Tuesday morning: 'This is an appropriate way, I think, for it to be brought to an end.
'The plea bargain is such that Julian Assange has admitted his guilt in this case to conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information, which is an extremely serious offence.'
WikiLeaks in 2010 released hundreds of thousands of classified US military documents on Washington's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
He spent the last 12 years years in prison or holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London
According to a document filed in federal court (pictured), Assange will plead guilty to the single charge of hacking
The former high commissioner to the UK added: 'I don't think we should walk past the fact that this is a very serious charge he's admitted to so in that sense it's no doubt appropriate.
'He's admitted his guilt now... that's part of the plea bargain. So the fact is we can now satisfactorily say he was guilty of a very serious offence.'
When asked about how some people will give him a heroes welcome in Australia, he responded: 'Most people don't in Australia [think that he fought to get the truth as a journalist]. A tiny minority of very vocal people see that he was a journalist, their claim is... that he was just reporting information. But he has been found guilty of a much more serious offence than that.
'And I think most people in Australia would agree that it's not appropriate to steal national security information and publish it.
'Governments have to have some degree of privacy in their communications... and by the way, he didn't just release information relating to Iraq and Afghanistan... but he released a huge amount of information, much of which was very embarrassing and some of which endangered lives.
'So what he did was a criminal offence and it was a terrible thing to do morally as well, endangering people's lives in that way, is just completely inappropriate. I don't think many Australians have sympathy for him, no. Just because he was Australian doesn't mean he's a good bloke.'
Julian Assange's lengthy fight against US extradition
August 2010: An arrest warrant is issued for Assange over two separate allegations - one of rape and one of molestation - after he visits Sweden for a speaking trip. He is questioned by police in Stockholm and denies the allegations.
November 2010: Stockholm District Court approves a request to detain the WikiLeaks founder for questioning on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion. An international arrest warrant is issued by Swedish police through Interpol.
December 2010: Assange presents himself to London police and appears at an extradition hearing where he is remanded in custody. He is later granted conditional bail at the High Court in London after his supporters offer £240,000 in cash and sureties. US President Donald Trump calls for the death penalty for Assange.
February 2011: District Judge Howard Riddle rules that Assange should be extradited to Sweden.
November 2011: Assange loses a High Court appeal against the decision.
May 2012: The UK Supreme Court upholds the High Court decision.
June 19, 2012: Assange enters the Ecuadorian embassy in London, requesting political asylum. A day later, Scotland Yard confirms he will be subject to arrest for breaching his bail conditions.
June 2013: Assange says he will not leave the embassy even if sex allegations against him are dropped, because he fears moves are under way to extradite him to the US.
July 2014: Assange loses a legal bid to have an arrest warrant issued in Sweden cancelled.
August 13, 2015: Swedish prosecutors drop investigations into some of the sex allegations against Assange due to time restrictions. The investigation into suspected rape remains active.
October 12, 2015: The Metropolitan Police end their 24-hour guard outside the Ecuadorian embassy. It concludes a three-year police operation that is estimated to have cost more than £12 million.
September 16, 2016: Sweden's Court of Appeal rejects a bid by Assange to have his sex assault warrant dropped.
October 2016: WikiLeaks publishes Democratic National Committee emails to the political benefit of Mr Trump, who remarks during his campaign: 'I love WikiLeaks'.
November 14, 2016: Assange is questioned for two days at the Ecuadorian embassy in the presence of Sweden's assistant prosecutor, Ingrid Isgren, and police inspector Cecilia Redell.
May 19, 2017: An investigation into a sex allegation against Assange is dropped by Sweden's director of public prosecutions.
August 15, 2017: Assange is allegedly offered a deal to avoid extradition in exchange for revealing the source of hacked Democratic Party emails to end speculation over Russian involvement.
December 2017: It is claimed that unnamed US figures who have been paying a security contractor to bug Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy have discussed a desperate plan to kidnap or poison him.
August 9, 2018: The US Senate Committee asks to interview Assange as part of its investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
September 27, 2018: Assange steps down as editor of WikiLeaks.
January 23, 2019: Lawyers for Assange say they are taking action aimed at making Mr Trump's administration reveal charges 'secretly filed' against him.
April 11, 2019: Assange is arrested after the Ecuadorian government withdraws his asylum, blaming his 'repeated violations' of 'international conventions and daily-life protocols'. He is found guilty of breaching the Bail Act and remanded in custody at Belmarsh Prison.
May 1, 2019: Assange is sentenced to 50 weeks' imprisonment by Southwark Crown Court. He continues to be held on remand in Belmarsh from September after serving the custodial sentence.
November 19, 2019: The alleged rape investigation is discontinued.
February 24, 2020: Assange faces an extradition hearing at Woolwich Crown Court, where his representatives argue he cannot legally be handed to the US for 'political offences' because of a 2003 extradition treaty.
March 25, 2020: Assange appears via video link at Westminster Magistrates' Court, where he is refused bail amid the coronavirus crisis.
June 24, 2020: The US Department of Justice issues an updated 18-count indictment over Assange's alleged role in 'one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States'.
September 7, 2020: Assange's extradition hearing resumes at the Old Bailey.
January 4, 2021: A judge at the Old Bailey rules that Assange cannot be extradited to the United States.
August 11, 2021: The US government is allowed by the High Court to expand the basis of its appeal against the judge's decision not to extradite Assange.
December 10, 2021: The US government wins its High Court bid to overturn the judge's decision not to extradite Assange.
December 23, 2021: Assange's partner says lawyers have started the process towards a Supreme Court appeal over his extradition to the US.
2022
March 14, 2022: Assange is denied permission to appeal against the High Court's decision in December 2021 to extradite him to the US, the Supreme Court confirms.
April 20, 2022: Westminster Magistrates' Court formally issues an extradition order, meaning Home Secretary Priti Patel is now responsible for deciding whether to approve the extradition, with two months to make her decision.
June 17, 2022: Ms Patel signs the extradition order. Assange has the usual 14-day right to appeal.
July 1, 2022: Assange lodges an appeal against a decision to extradite him to the United States.
November 30, 2022: Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he recently told US President Joe Biden's administration to end the prosecution of Assange.
April 10, 2023: A letter to the US attorney general is signed by 35 parliamentarians calling for extradition proceedings to be dropped against Assange on the fourth anniversary of his detention at Belmarsh Prison.
June 9, 2023: Assange loses latest extradition appeal bid.
January 10, 2024: The lawyer for Assange says the WikiLeaks founder's life 'is at risk' if his final appeal against his extradition to the US fails.
March 26, 2024: Two judges at the High Court decline to dismiss or grant Assange's bid for an appeal, giving the US authorities three weeks to provide 'satisfactory assurances'.
April 17, 2024: The two judges confirm the US authorities have provided an assurance to the court, meaning a decision on Assange's appeal bid will be considered at a hearing in May.
June 25, 2025: Julian Assange flies out of London after reaching a plea deal with US prosecutors.
