Julian Assange plans to swim in ocean ‘every day’ and looks forward to ‘real bed’ after release

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange plans to savor his time as a free man by taking daily dips in the ocean, sleeping in a proper bed and eating real food, his wife said after he returned home to Australia.

Assange, 52, touched down in his native country Wednesday after accepting a plea deal with the US government and pleading guilty to publishing US military secrets.

Now freed from the British prison where he was fighting extradition to the US for the past five years, Assange has big plans to “rest and recover,” his wife, Stella Assange, said Thursday, according to CNN.

“He is just savoring freedom for the first time in 14 years,” she said. “Julian plans to swim in the ocean every day. He plans to sleep in a real bed, he plans to taste real food, and he plans to enjoy his freedom.”

Stella Assange and the WikiLeaks founder wed while he was incarcerated at London’s Belmarsh prison in 2022. The couple shares two sons — aged 7 and 5 — whom he has yet to be reunited with as of Thursday morning.

They have only ever met their father during twice-a-month prison visits at the high-security lockup.

“But they were very excited when they found out that daddy was coming home,” Stella Assange said. “I had to tell them gradually. So they were very, very excited.”

Assange pleaded guilty to obtaining and publishing classified American military secrets in a US federal court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, on Wednesday – putting an end to his 12-year legal saga.

He declined to speak to reporters while leaving the courthouse and has not made any public comments since his release.

Assange reportedly requested the hearing in the far-flung US territory due to its proximity to Australia, and distance to mainland America.

Under the terms of the plea, Assange won’t spend another day behind bars after he received credit for the time he spent in a high-security British prison.