After a years-long legal saga, Wikileaks says that founder Julian Assange has left the UK after reaching a deal with US authorities that will see him plead guilty to criminal charges and go free.
Assange, 52, was charged with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.
For years, the US has argued that the Wikileaks files - which disclosed information about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars - endangered lives.
After a years-long legal saga, Wikileaks says that founder Julian Assange has left the UK after reaching a deal with US authorities that will see him plead guilty to criminal charges and go free.
Assange, 52, was charged with conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.
For years, the US has argued that the Wikileaks files - which disclosed information about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars - endangered lives.
Assange spent the last five years in a British prison, from where he was fighting extradition to the US.
According to CBS, the BBC's US partner, Assange will spend no time in US custody and will receive credit for the time spent incarcerated in the UK.
Assange will return to Australia, according to a letter from the justice department.
On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Wikileaks said that Assange left Belmarsh prison on Monday after 1,901 days in a small cell.
He was then "released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK" to return to Australia, the statement added.
Video shared online by Wikileaks appear to show Assange, dressed in jeans and a blue shirt, being driven to Stansted before boarding an aircraft.
The BBC has been unable to independently verify the video.
His wife, Stella Assange, tweeted thanks to his supporters "who have all mobilised for years and years to make this come true".
The deal - which will see him plead guilty to one charge - is expected to be finalised in a court in the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday, 26 June.
