“I want to thank you, you’ve saved my life”. These are the powerful words that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange reportedly uttered to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as he set foot back in Australia earlier this year.
In a powerful call to action at SXSW Sydney, Assange’s defence lawyer for more than 14 years shared the words that, up until this moment has remained a private moment between Albaneses, Assange and his closest supporters and allies. The moment marked the culmination of over a decade of intense legal battles and public outcry for the WikiLeaks founder’s release following his years of detention and confinement.
After years of house arrest, asylum within the Ecuadorian embassy, and his final imprisonment in the UK’s high-security Belmarsh Prison, Assange’s journey back to Australia was an emotional and understandably physically draining process. The tension built until the moment the plane carrying him touched down in Australia.
Robinson described the surreal nature of that day, revealing that as they descended into Australian airspace, the first person to greet Assange on a FaceTime call was her father, an Australian horse farmer.
“Just as we were landing, my dad FaceTimed me,” Robinson recalled. “I put him on the phone with Julian, and Julian said, ‘G’day, Terry,’ and my dad just replied, ‘Ah, good on you, mate.’”
However, it was the next phone call that carried a weight few could fathom. As Robinson described, “The next call came from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who welcomed Julian home, checked that he was alright. And that’s when Julian said to him, “I want to thank you. You’ve saved my life.” .
“I don’t think he was wrong,” Robinson explained. “For more than 14 years, Julian was placed under all forms of restrictions on his liberty, house arrest prison initially, seven and a half years in the Ecuadorian embassy, five and a half years in a high-security prison for publishing evidence of war crimes and human rights abuse the world over, for the same publications for which he’s won journalism awards the world over and being nominated for Nobel Peace Prize”.
“In effect, he had to plead guilty to committing journalism and award-winning journalism, and the US government had to acknowledge that there was no harm caused by those publications. I think our return home to Australia was such a positive story,” she explained.
This personal and emotional exchange was, until now, hidden from the public eye. It encapsulates the profound sense of relief and gratitude Assange felt after years of living under the shadow of potential extradition to the United States, where he faced the possibility of life imprisonment.
Assange’s release, Robinson highlighted, does not spell the end of the challenges to journalism and free speech. Robinson used her keynote as a platform to warn about the dangerous precedent his prosecution sets for journalists worldwide.
“What the United States is doing with the Espionage Act is criminalising journalism,” Robinson warned. “The reality is that the law on the books in the United States criminalises journalism… Julian may have been the first journalist prosecuted under the Espionage Act, but depending on what happens with the US election, I don’t think he will be the last”.
While Assange enjoys newfound freedom—reuniting with his family and relishing Australia’s beaches—Robinson expressed concern over whether he can ever fully recover from the trauma of his experiences. “He’s still not recovered, and I don’t know if he ever can recover from that experience,” she admitted.
Yet, for now, Assange’s life has taken a turn toward the ordinary. “It gives me a lot of joy to see images of him and the kids on the beach,” Robinson shared, reflecting on how deeply Assange had longed for these simple pleasures during his years of confinement.
Earlier this month, Assange spoke publicly for the first time since his release from prison. In an emotional address at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, Assange provided the first bit of insight into his years of incarceration while advocating for his enduring belief in freedom of speech.
“I am not here today because the system worked; I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism,” Assange explained. “I pled guilty to seeking information from a source, I pled guilty to obtaining information from a source, and I pled guilty to informing the public what that information was. I did not plead guilty to anything else”.
His appearance before PACE, Europe’s leading human rights body, marked the first time he had spoken publicly since his release. While the event was heavily controlled, with restricted media access, Assange’s remarks reverberated far beyond the walls of the assembly hall.
Flanked by his wife, Stella, and WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, Assange spoke candidly about the toll his five years in a UK high-security prison had taken on his mental and physical health.
“The transition from years of confinement in a maximum security prison to being here before the representatives of 46 nations and 700 million people is a profound and surreal shift. The experience of isolation for years in a small cell is difficult to convey. It strips away one sense of self, leaving only the raw essence of existence,” Assange explained. “I am yet not fully equipped to speak about what I have endured in the relentless struggle to stay alive, both physically and mentally. Nor can I speak yet about the deaths by hanging, murder and medical neglect of my fellow prisoners”.
“I apologise in advance, if my words falter or if my presentation lacks the polish you might expect from such a distinguished forum, isolation has taken its toll”.
Despite being evidently broken by his time incarcerated, Assange’s fervent defence of press freedom remained at the core of his address – his beliefs never wavering.
“Freedom of expression and all that comes with it is at a dark crossroads,” he said. “The criminalisation of news-gathering activities is a threat to investigative journalism everywhere”.
“Journalists should not be prosecuted for doing their jobs. Journalism is not a crime; it is a pillar of a free and informed society”.
Since his release, Assange has been focusing on spending time with his family. His wife Stella, speaking after the hearing, said, “It’s all we’d been wishing for for so many years; it’s wonderful. We have been taking time for ourselves and time to figure things out”.