Julian Assange, founder of the infamous WikiLeaks page, was arrested on April 11th. For those looking to stay up to date with what has happened in his case, here’s a recap of all the key events that led us all to this point.
2006
WikiLeaks is born in Iceland, reportedly founded by Australian internet activist Julian Assange. WikiLeaks is an international organization dedicated to publishing news leaks, top secret information, classified media, and any other anonymously leaked document of international interest.
2010
WikiLeaks published sensitive footage from the July 2007 Baghdad airstrike that killed several Iraqi journalists, as well as the Afghan War Diary and the Iraq War Logs, a series of highly sensitive U.S. military logs about the war in Afghanistan. In November of that same year, WikiLeaks released many classified “cables” belonging to the US State Department, an incident also known as “Cablegate.”
By this time, Sweden issued an international arrest warrant for Asange after questioning him months earlier about sexual assault and rape allegations. He denied the charges, and presented himself to the police in London. He remained in custody until he was granted a conditional bail a month later, which was bankrolled by his supporters.
2011
Wikileaks started releasing over 770 secret files about the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.
In November, Assange lost an appeal to extradite him to Sweden, after a judge declared it wouldn’t violate his human rights.
2012
In June 19, Assange entered the Ecuadorian embassy in London and officially requested political asylum there. After the move, Scotland Yard declared that an arrest warrant was now active against Assange since he violated his bail conditions.
Around two months later, Ecuador granted political asylum to Assange. He then famously went out to the Ecuadorian embassy’s balcony and called for the US government to end its persecution against him and WikiLeaks. He declared the door was open for negotiations that would avoid his extradition to Sweden.
2013
In June, Assange confessed that even if the sex charges against him were dropped, he would not leave the Ecuadorian embassy, as he feared he’d be unduly extradited anyway.
2014
In Stockholm, a judge determined that the international arrest warrant against Assange for putative sexual offenses against two women should remain active.
2015
Julian Assange expresses a distinct preference for a GOP government in the United States. Specifically, he claimed to want a Republican candidate to win the 2016 elections, affirming that “Dems+Media+liberals wouLd [sic] then form a block to reign [sic] in their worst qualities. With Hillary in charge, GOP will be pushing for her worst qualities, dems+media+neoliberals will be mute.”
In March, Swedish authorities posted a request to question Assange at the embassy. A few months later, investigations into several of the sex allegations are terminated, given time restrictions—but the rape investigation was still ongoing. By October, after three long years, the Metropolitan police ended its 24-hour watch outside the embassy.
2016
WikiLeaks published several emails and other documents from the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, during the US presidential campaign—severely hurting the Democrat’s odds to win the election. US Intelligence assessed with a great level of certainty that Russia had hacked the emails and supplied them to WikiLeaks. Afterwards, WikiLeaks actively engaged in a campaign against Hilary Clinton, promoting several conspiracy theories about her.
Additionally, WikilLeaks actively encouraged the Trump campaign not to accept the election results if they lost.
As Ecuador finally accepts Sweden’s request, Swedish authorities enter the embassy to question Assange for two days.
2017
Jeff Sessions, then US attorney general, affirmed Assange’s arrest was a priority for the United States. In May, however, Swedish authorities unexpectedly stopped the rape investigation against him.
2018
Ecuador announced it had granted Assange citizenship upon his request. The UK foreign office nevertheless rejected Ecuador’s request to grant Assange diplomatic status, which would allow him to walk freely. The arrest warrant against Assange for skipping bail remains active and is reaffirmed in February.
By March, the Ecuadorian embassy had suspended Assange’s internet access. After that, in October, Assange accused Ecuador of violating his rights. Around the same time, the US Senate committee requested to interview Assange about his role in the possible Russian intervention of the 2016 presidential election.
2019
Assange’s lawyers claimed the US Department of Justice secretly filed charges against their client, as his name appeared in a court document a few months earlier. The lawyers take action in order to force Trump’s administration to reveal the charges.
By April 5, there were some reports suggesting Assange might be expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy. Six days later, on April 11, Assange was arrested after his diplomatic status was revoked.
And that’s where we are now. Stay tuned for further updates!
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