Julian Assange's Wife Is Thrilled That Her Husband Has Been Released From Prison

Although his story has faded from the headlines in more recent years, Julian Assange remains well-known in many corners of the world. The Wikileaks founder came to prominence after working with Chelsea Manning to leak a variety of sensitive state secrets from the U.S. government.

Now, Julian has been released from prison in the U.K. after pleading guilty to a single count of violating a U.S. espionage law. Now that Julian is going to be a free man after more than a decade, many want to know more about his personal life, including who his wife is.

Julian Assange's wife Stella, born Stella Gonzalez Devant, is a human rights lawyer who came to prominence through working on Julian's case. She was first brought on to his legal team in 2011, and they began a romantic relationship in 2015. The couple were together for seven years before they got married in 2022. Following the news of his release, Stella has been outspoken in interviews.

Stella said that she had not yet informed her children about the news because she was afraid of it leaking.

"All I told them was that there was a big surprise. And, on the morning that we left, I told them where we’re 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," she said.

She also said that she was elated by the news that her husband would finally be free.

“We weren’t really sure until the last 24 hours that it was actually happening and, well, we were talking about [it]," she added. "I don’t know what he needed to do and take from his cell, and I also had to pack things up and head out to Australia 24 hours before he left. So it’s just been non-stop for the past, I think, 72 hours.”

Julian and Stella conceived two children in secret while he was living at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Stella said that as recently as the morning of June 25, her children still didn't know about their father's impending freedom.

“And they still don’t know. We’ve been very careful, because obviously, no one can stop a 5- and a 7-year-old from, you know, shouting it from the rooftops at any given moment," she said. "Because of the sensitivity around the judge having to sign off the deal, we’ve been very careful, just gradually, incrementally telling them information.”

Stella also added that Julian has never interacted with his children outside of prison.

“All their interactions with Julian have been in a single visitors’ room inside Belmarsh prison," she said. "It’s always been for a little more than an hour at a time. It’s been very restrictive. You know, he can’t walk around. He can’t go to the tuck shop. He wasn’t able to go to the tuck shop and buy a chocolate or anything you see.”