Who is Julian Assange? A lifetime of leaks and legal battles

Bhagyaluxmi Yadav / Updated: 25 Jun 2024, 10:47:00 AM

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'Julian Assange is free'

Stella Assange, wife of Julian Assange, expressed her gratitude to supporters on Tuesday following his release from British custody after a five-year period. She took to the social media platform X to announce, "Julian is free!!!!" shortly after his departure from southeast London's Belmarsh high-security prison was confirmed.

In a statement released by WikiLeaks, it was revealed that "Julian Assange is free. He left Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of June 24, after having spent 1,901 days there." (Pic credit: AP)

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Early life and hacking beginnings

Julian Assange was born in Townsville, Australia, in July 1971. During his teenage years, he became known as a skilled computer programmer. In 1995, he pleaded guilty to hacking and was fined. In his late 20s, he attended Melbourne University, where he studied mathematics and physics. (Pic credit: AP)

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Creation of WikiLeaks

In 2006, Assange launched WikiLeaks, establishing a web-based "dead letter drop" for potential leakers. The site gained significant attention in April 2010 when it released a classified video depicting a 2007 US helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed a dozen people. (Pic credit: AP)

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Major document releases

In 2010, WikiLeaks released over 90,000 classified US military documents on the Afghanistan war and approximately 400,000 secret files on the Iraq war, marking the largest security breaches in US military history. In 2011, the site published 250,000 secret diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world. (Pic credit: AP)

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Impact and controversy

The released information caused embarrassment and fury among US politicians and military officials. They contended that the revelations put lives at risk. Chelsea Manning, a former army intelligence analyst, was incarcerated for seven years due to leaking documents to WikiLeaks. President Barack Obama later granted Manning's release. (Pic credit: AFP)

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2016 election interference allegations

In the lead-up to the 2016 US presidential election, WikiLeaks once again garnered attention by releasing a substantial number of emails belonging to Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman. Clinton was the Democratic nominee in the race.

A report by the US Senate in 2020 alleged that Russia utilised WikiLeaks to assist Donald Trump in his successful bid for the presidency. However, Trump rejected the report's findings, calling it a hoax, while Russia also denied any involvement in interfering with the election. (Pic credit: Reuters)

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Arrest and legal proceedings

In late 2010, Julian Assange faced legal challenges in Sweden. Two WikiLeaks volunteers from the country accused him of sexual misconduct, leading to a court in Sweden issuing an order for his detention in November. The following month, Assange was apprehended by authorities in the UK, acting on a European Arrest Warrant originating from Sweden. (Pic credit: AP)

Assange refuted the accusations, asserting that they were merely a pretext to extradite him to the US. He maintained his innocence and suggested that the allegations were a means to ultimately transfer him into US custody.

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Seeking asylum in Ecuador

In June 2012, after losing his UK Supreme Court extradition challenge, Assange sought asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, which was granted in August 2012. This led to a years-long standoff with British authorities maintaining a 24/7 guard outside the embassy. (Pic credit: AFP)

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Life in the Embassy

Julian Assange spent seven years confined within the Ecuadorian embassy in London, living in tight quarters. Although the Swedish authorities ceased their investigation into allegations against him in 2017, law enforcement in the UK insisted that he would face arrest for breaching bail conditions if he left the embassy.

While living in these restricted circumstances, Assange became a father to two children with his partner, Stella Moris. The couple later wed in 2022, with the ceremony taking place in Belmarsh prison, where Assange was being held. (Pic credit: AFP)

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Arrest and US extradition request

Assange faced a significant setback on April 11, 2019, when he was apprehended following the Ecuadorian government's decision to withdraw his asylum status. As a result of violating bail conditions, Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison.

The US government took further action against Assange in June 2019 by officially submitting an extradition request. The request included 18 charges against him, which encompassed conspiracy to hack US government computers and violating espionage laws. These charges stemmed from Assange's involvement in the publication of classified documents through WikiLeaks. (Pic credit: AFP)