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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is on his way back to Australia a free man after officially pleading guilty Wednesday (June 26) to an espionage charge at a US District Court in Saipan.

He was sentenced to five years in prison, which he had already served in the UK, which cleared him to return home.

Australian public broadcaster ABC reported that Assange entered and exited the court without saying anything to reporters, but his lawyers, Barry J Pollack and Jennifer Robinson, said that the legal proceedings were "historic."

They also confirmed that hearing the case in Saipan was out of convenience for Assange.

As of writing, the Wikileaks founder is returning to Australia on a chartered flight. The plane is expected to land in Canberra, Australia's capital city, at around 19:00 local time (11:00 UTC).

On the other hand, the US Justice Department released a statement acknowledging that the sentencing marked the end of the legal proceedings against Assange. In it, the agency said that, under the plea agreement, Assange was prohibited from returning to the United States without permission unless there was a presidential order to offer him a full pardon, a matter White House candidates Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are considering should either of them win this November.

Assange's Legal Team Calls Espionage Case 'Unprecedented'

Pollack, Assange's chief US legal counsel, said that his client's prosecution was "unprecedented" in the century since the implementation of the Espionage Act. He said the trial would have a chilling effect on journalists around the world and a complication in the application of the First Amendment of the US Constitution. He added that Wikileaks's work "will continue" and that Assange "cannot be silenced."

On the other hand, Robinson, Assange's personal lawyer and chief Commonwealth attorney, encouraged the public to "continue to stand up and fight" against the precedent her client was involved with. She also thanked Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and several politicians and diplomats for their continued effort to free Assange during his recent political career.

The Associated Press recalled that the Julian Assange legal saga began in 2010 after a cache of documents incriminating the US for alleged war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan were revealed.

Weeks after, a Swedish prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Assange based on at least two separate sexual assault cases, both of which were eventually dropped.

In 2012, Assange presented himself to the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he claimed asylum on the grounds of political prosecution. He eventually spent seven years inside in self-exile until the embassy revoked his asylum and allowed British police to arrest and detain him for five years, waiting for a potential extradition to the US.

Aussie Politicians Celebrate, Continue Vigilance to Keep Press Freedom

Meanwhile, Australian politicians have been longing for Assange's homecoming to the country and were jubilant when he became a free man.

In a press conference with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele before the confirmation of the sentencing, Albanese told reporters that Assange's case has "dragged on for too long" and was expecting the journalist to come home to Australia after the sentencing.

After the confirmation from the US court, the Bring Julian Assange Parliamentary Group, a bloc of MPs from all sides of the Australian political spectrum, told reporters of their joint celebration and concern about press freedom and protections for journalists.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said that Assange's brief court hearing was an "alarming precedent" that he thought sent a chilling effect to journalists worldwide.

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US, UK, Australia