WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange announces return with a new photo: ‘I’m back’

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who largely stayed away from social media after his release from prison in 2024, announced his return on Thursday, triggering speculations that he might restart publishing documents related to politics and major global events.

Assange had last made a post on microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter) on June 28, 2024, when he had shared an article by thedissenter titled ‘Inside The Assange Plea Deal: Why The US Government Abruptly Ended The Case’.  But since then, he stayed away from the platform.

However, Assange reposted a post by WikiLeaks that featured his photo to announce his return. “I’m back,” he said in short post.

The WikiLeaks chapter 

The WikiLeaks was founded by Assange in 2006 and has published many censored and classified documents. He had conspired with former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning that had helped him get access to classified and censored documents of the American military.

He was arrested from London in 2019 and was later extradited to the US. On June 25, 2024, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national-defence information and was sentenced to 62 months in prison. However, he was released, as he had already spent 62 months in a British prison while fighting extradition.

Later, he returned to Australia.

Assange’s pleaded ‘guilty to journalism’ statement

In October 2024, he had said that he was freed after years of incarceration because he “pled guilty to journalism”. In his statement, he had said he was free not because the system worked, but “after years of incarceration” because he “pled guilty to journalism”.

“I pled guilty to seeking information from a source. I pled guilty to obtaining information from a source. And I pled guilty to informing the public what that information was,” he had said.

“It strips away one’s sense of self, leaving only the raw essence of existence,” he had said, his voice cracking while he offered an apology for his “faltering words” and an “unpolished presentation. “I’m not yet fully equipped to speak about what I have endured — the relentless struggle to stay alive, both physically and mentally.”

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