For the past 13 years Stella Assange has been at her husband’s side, first as part of his legal team, then as his wife and mother of his two children.
The 40-year-old human rights lawyer has recently been the public face of Julian Assange’s campaign to win his freedom, as he appealed against his extradition to the United States.
She shared news of his release on X on Tuesday, as well as pictures of her Australian husband calling her while she stood outside Sydney Opera House awaiting his arrival to begin their new life together in Australia.
Mrs Assange said she had flown to Australia on Sunday, with the pair's two sons, Gabriel, seven, and five-year-old Max.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that she had not yet told the boys of their father's release as she did not want them “shouting it from the rooftops at any given moment”.
“All I told them was that there was a big surprise on the morning that we left,” she said.
“I told them we were heading to the airport. And we got on the plane and I told them that we were going to visit our family, their cousin, their grandfather and so on.
“Because of the sensitivity around the judge having to sign off the deal we’ve been very careful, just gradually, incrementally telling them information. They are very excited to be in Australia though.”
Sara Gonzalez Devant, as she was then, joined Mr Assange’s legal team in 2011 when he was initially fighting to avoid extradition to Sweden to face sexual assault charges.
She changed her name to Stella Moris in 2012, she says, to protect herself and her family while working with Mr Assange.
Born in South Africa to a Spanish mother and Swedish father of Cuban heritage, her American accent was acquired at an international school in Lesotho.
She went on to study for a degree in law and politics at Soas in London, an MSc at Oxford in refugee law, and a master’s in Madrid in public international law.
The couple began a relationship when Mr Assange was in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he had taken refuge during his extradition battle with the Swedish authorities.
Their first son Gabriel was born in 2017, followed by Max two years later, before Mr Assange was kicked out of the embassy and sent to Belmarsh prison.
The couple married in 2022 at the maximum-security jail in south-east London and she wore a dress designed by Vivienne Westwood.
The renowned designer was a friend of the couple and one of the many celebrity backers of Mr Assange. She visited him when he was in the Ecuadorean embassy but he was denied permission to attend her funeral last year.
Ahead of his recent appeal hearing at the High Court in London, Mrs Assange recently said she would “follow him wherever he goes” and said her husband was keen to show his sons his native Australia one day.
Julian Assange released – in pictures
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrives at Canberra Airport in Australia after being released from Belmarsh Prison in the UK, where he had been held for five years. Getty Images -
Mr Assange hugs his wife Stella Assange after arriving in Canberra. AFP -
Mr Assange waves at supporters in the Australian capital. EPA -
Mr Assange looks out of a plane window as he approaches Bangkok for a stopover. Reuters -
Mr Assange makes his way to board his flight out of the UK at London's Stansted Airport. AFP -
Mr Assange boards the flight to Saipan, capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, in the Western Pacific. Reuters -
Mr Assange in London after his release from Belmarsh Prison. AFP -
The aircraft carrying Mr Assange on a fuel stopover at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok. EPA -
Mr Assange's image from Stansted Airport, seen in a video call with his wife Stella Assange in Sydney. Reuters
“Julian misses Australia and we’re very keen to travel to Australia with the kids and for him to show his home country to our children,” she said.
When it was announced that he had been granted the right to appeal, Mrs Assange told The National she was confident the decision marked the “beginning of the end” in her husband's long-running battle to avoid extradition to the US.
After news of the 52-year-old's release emerged, she told the BBC he will “be a free man” once a plea deal with the US is “signed off by a judge”.
“The important thing here is that the deal involved time served – that if he signed it, he would be able to walk free,” she said.
“He will be a free man once it has been signed off by a judge and that will happen some time tomorrow.”
