Since his return to Australia in June, following a deal that ended his 14-year legal battle with the US Department of Justice, Assange has largely avoided the public eye.Stella, who married Assange during his time at London’s Belmarsh prison, had previously mentioned his plans to use his freedom by “swimming in the ocean every day”, sleeping in a real bed, tasting real food, and enjoying his liberty.
Prior to this recent photo, Stella had shared another image on July 3, Assange’s birthday, depicting the couple in a forested area with the caption: “Free!”.
Assange had spent over five years in Belmarsh fighting extradition to the United States on charges under the 1917 Espionage Act, following a seven-year stay in Ecuador’s London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault charges, which were eventually dropped.
Assange gained notoriety for publishing hundreds of thousands of confidential US documents on the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website from 2010 onward. While some hailed him as a hero for free speech, others considered him a villain for potentially endangering US security and intelligence sources. The released material included a video showing civilians being killed by fire from a US helicopter gunship in Iraq in 2007.
In a plea deal, Assange pled guilty in a US Pacific island court to a single count of revealing military secrets. He was sentenced to time already served and allowed to walk free. However, the US Justice Department has prohibited Assange from returning to the United States without permission.
Source : Times of India