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00:00For 14 years now, perhaps the world's best-known legal saga has come to an end.
00:05The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has officially walked free from a court on the US Pacific
00:10Island Territory of Saipan after pleading guilty to violating US espionage law.
00:16The deal that has allowed him to head straight home to Australia, he's due to land there
00:20in around an hour and a half's time now, a three-hour hearing it was, during which Assange
00:25said he believed the US Constitution, which protects free speech, shielded his activities.
00:31The judge releasing him though, due to his time, already served in a British jail.
00:36Let's hear from his lawyer first.
00:37Today is a historic day.
00:41It brings to an end 14 years of legal battles.
00:44And finally, after 14 years of legal battles, Julian Assange can go home a free man.
00:50This also brings to an end a case which has been recognised as the greatest threat to
00:56the First Amendment in the 21st century.
01:00A little earlier we spoke to correspondent Adam Hancock in Sydney.
01:04The legal marathon has finally come to an end and it ended in quite unusual circumstances
01:10in a remote Pacific Island which is part of US territory in a place called Saipan.
01:16In a US court there, Julian Assange today effectively formalised the plea deal that
01:21had been arranged between his lawyers and US prosecutors.
01:25It was a fairly business-like few hours at the court, although obviously people who've
01:30been following this for a long time know how many twists and turns there have been.
01:33So I'm sure there were a few nerves in the Assange camp ahead of the judge accepting
01:39his guilty plea.
01:40Now, the judge was very meticulous going through all of his case, making Mr Assange aware that
01:45he could plead not guilty and take this to trial, but he pled guilty to that one charge
01:50of violating US espionage laws.
01:53And then there was the sentencing and the judge decided that the 62 months that Julian
01:58Assange has spent in the high security Belmarsh prison in the United Kingdom was more than
02:03sufficient for the crime that he has committed.
02:08And therefore he was able to leave court as a free man and the judge even wished him an
02:13early happy birthday.
02:14So it was all smiles in the Assange camp we just heard there from his legal team.
02:19And now he is able to get on a plane and head straight here to Australia.
02:24We expect him to arrive in the capital Canberra around about quarter to seven this evening,
02:29the first time he is set foot on Australian soil in over 14 years.