Julian Assange: What did he do? What did Julian Assange do?

Julian Assange is an Australian editor, publisher and activist.

Assange is best known as the founder of WikiLeaks, which he founded in 2006.

Assange’s Wikileaks gained international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.

The leaks included the Baghdad airstrike Collateral Murder video (April 2010), the Afghanistan war logs (July 2010), the Iraq war logs (October 2010), and Cablegate (November 2010).

After the 2010 leaks, the United States government launched a criminal investigation into WikiLeaks.

In November 2010, Sweden issued an international arrest warrant for Assange over allegations of sexual misconduct.

Assange said the allegations were a pretext for his extradition from Sweden to the United States over his role in the publication of secret American documents.

After losing his battle against extradition to Sweden, he breached bail and took refuge in the Embassy of Ecuador in London in June 2012.

Assange was granted asylum by Ecuador in August 2012 on the grounds of political persecution, with the presumption that if he were extradited to Sweden, he would be eventually extradited to the United States.

Assange has been confined in Belmarsh, a category A prison, in London since April 2019.

On 4 January 2021, UK District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled against the United States’ request to extradite Assange and stated that doing so would be “oppressive” given concerns over Assange’s mental health and risk of suicide.

On 6 January 2021, Assange was denied bail, pending an appeal by the United States.

On 10 December 2021, the High Court in London ruled that Assange could be extradited to the US to face the charges.

In March 2022, the UK Supreme Court refused Assange permission to appeal.

On 17 June 2022, Home Secretary Priti Patel approved the extradition of Assange.

What did Julian Assange do?

Prosecutors allege that Assange unlawfully helped former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to steal thousands of classified diplomatic cables and military files, which were published by WikiLeaks in 2010.

The U.S. said the publication of those documents put lives at risk.

Authorities have also noted any sentence is likely to be significantly less than the 175 years that Assange’s lawyers have suggested he could receive.

Assange has always denied any wrongdoing and his supporters have called for him to be exonerated, arguing that his actions were journalism and in the public interest.

Assange’s  Stella Assange, reiterated that position on Friday, June 17, 2022 saying it “is only the beginning of a new legal battle.”