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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been freed after a US deal which will see him plead guilty to one charge of violating the country's Espionage Act. He is returning to his home country of Australia having been in a British prison for the past five years, fighting extradition to the US, where he feared a lengthy sentence. Assange was charged with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information, after the Wikileaks site published secret US military records. Assange will spend no time in US custody and will receive credit for the time spent in prison in the UK.

Australian Senator David Shoebridge has been involved in a cross-party effort to secure his release. He told Newsday, "Julian Assange should not have been in jail. His crime, if you call it a crime, was telling the truth." He said there were tears in his office when they heard the news. "There are millions of Australians who are so glad to see Julian come home, to be with his wife, to be with his kids, and to be free."

Photo: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange boarding a plane in London. Credit: WIKILEAKS/HANDOUT HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock