Julian Assange’s final dash to freedom will cost the WikiLeaks founder $780,000.
Mr Assange has flown to Saipan, a remote west Pacific US territory in the Northern Mariana Islands, to accept a plea deal to free him and return to Australia.
His wife Stella Assange says the long-detained father could not fly across the world for the hearing on commercial flights.
“Julian’s travel to freedom comes at a massive cost: Julian will owe USD 520,000 which he is obligated to pay back to the Australian government for (the) charter flight,” she posted to social media.
WikiLeaks crowd fund flight costs
“He was not permitted to fly commercial airlines or routes to Saipan and onward to Australia. Any contribution big or small is much appreciated.”
NewsWire has confirmed the bill for the flights will fall to Mr Assange and his supporters, while Australian government representatives are assisting with the administrative work required at the US territory.
Mr Assange has left Belmarsh Prison in London, flown to Thailand and then the Northern Mariana Islands during the past two days.
He is expected to land in Canberra about 7pm AEST on Wednesday.
Mr Assange’s father hopes his son will take a year off to appreciate “the beauty of ordinary life” in Australia.
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Mr Assange will front the US court on Wednesday, with the hearing scheduled for 9am AEST.
He is expected to plead guilty to a single felony of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information, a violation under the US Espionage Act.
The 62 months Mr Assange has spent in a UK prison is expected to fulfil the penalty he will be sentenced to, and from there he is expected to fly home to Australia.
Speaking to the Today show on Wednesday morning, Mr Assange’s father John Shipton said he wanted his son to feel the sand of a beach between his toes.
“Julian hasn’t been home in 16 years, so it’s really a joyous day for us,” Mr Shipton said.
Questioned on what Mr Assange would likely do once he was officially a free man, Mr Shipton said he hoped his son would learn to appreciate “the beauty of ordinary life”.
“Learning again how to walk along the beach and feel the sand come through your feet. And playing with his kids and learning how to have the patience to play with your kids for a few hours. That sort of thing. Ordinary life really.”
Mr Assange fathered two children, born in 2017 and 2019, with his wife while he was an asylum seeker in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
Mr Shipton was at a Canberra tourist park on Wednesday morning awaiting instruction from the federal government on what happens when Mr Assange’s plane touches down.
Mr Assange has travelled from London to Bangkok, then to the US territory, which is 2600km east of Manila.
Footage from the Saipan courthouse showed Mr Assange arriving about 8am AEST on Wednesday to accept the plea deal, flanked by ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the US legal system needed to run its course and would not comment on the exact time Mr Assange would set foot on Australian soil.
“Irrespective of one’s view of what Mr Assange originally did, he’s been incarcerated for a very long period of time and this is obviously a situation which needed legal resolution,” Mr Marles said on Channel 9 Tuesday morning.
“He’s been incarcerated for a long time … that’s why we’ve been advocating on his behalf.
“We’ve been working tirelessly on Mr Assange’s behalf these past few years.
“This matter will be heard in a United States court this morning, and we’ll see what happens from there.”