NEW YORK, June 26. /TASS/. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has walked out of a courtroom in Saipan, the capital of the US commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, as a free man.

Those present greeted him with applause but Assange declined to make comments to reporters and got in a car that was supposed to take him to the airport to depart to Australia, his home country.

"The guilty plea concludes a criminal matter that dates back to March 2018, when Assange was first indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia," the US Department of Justice said in a statement. "Following the imposition of sentence, he will depart the United States for his native Australia. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Assange is prohibited from returning to the United States without permission," the agency added.