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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was released from a British prison, CNN reports on June 25th. He began his journey back to his home country of Australia on Monday, June 24th. This followed a 12-year battle against extradition to the United States that concluded with a plea deal.

The controversial figure has spent the past five years in a high-security prison located in the British capital. Before that, he spent nearly seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, trying to avoid arrest that could led to long imprisonment.

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On Monday, June 24th, Julian Assange, 52, agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge. This is related to his alleged role in one of the largest breaches of classified US government materials. His whistleblowing website WikiLeaks had published nearly half a million secret military documents about the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The plea deal concludes a lengthy legal saga, enabling Assange to avoid prison in the US and return to Australia as a free man. However, he must first make a court appearance in a remote United States territory in the Pacific.

CNN and agencies