Julian Assange (born in Australia in 1971) was a computer programmer, who founded the media organization Wikileaks in 2006.
He was known for his superior computer skills and by 1991, he had hacked into various secure systems, including those of NASA and Pentagon.
Wikileaks was positioned as a provider of classified information (for the consumption of a select few authorities) and soon after its founding, published confidential reports on Yemen, China, Kenya, many Arab countries, and Peru, etc.
In Apr 2010, Wikileaks published information regarding US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which was considered a breach of national security by the Obama Administration.
Over the next few months, Wikileaks published 250,000+ confidential US documents dating as far back as 1966.
While a lot of politicians world over considered Assange’s actions illegal (some labeling him a terrorist), he received continuous support from Brazilian and Ecuadorian Presidents, among many others.
In Aug 2010, Assange was in Sweden where he was charged with sexual assault allegations – he was questioned, the case was closed but then reopened in Nov 2010, and an international arrest warrant was issued.
In Dec 2010, he was in London, where he was arrested and two court hearings were held on whether he should be extradited to Sweden or not, and he was granted bail.
In further hearings between Feb 2011 and May 2012In this period, he was under house arrest but continued to record controversial interviews with Hezbollah (Lebanon’s militant group) leader., it was ruled that he should be sent to Sweden.
Assange feared that if he were extradited to Sweden he might be extradited to the US, where he was to face severe punishment (up to 175 years in jail).
So, he applied for political asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in the UK and received it on the ground that his extradition would be a violation of human rights.
In 2017, Ecuador elected a new President, while Sweden authorities removed all pending investigations against Assange.
In 2019, Assange was evicted for ‘spoiled brat’ behavior from the Ecuadorian embassy in the UK; many indicated that it happened because unlike the old Ecuadorian President, the new President wasn’t a big supporter of Assange.
In May 2019, he was sentenced to 50 weeks in jail in the UK, and the same month, Sweden reopened the closed cases.
The Swedish investigation was withdrawn again, but now the US wanted the UK to extradite him to the US, a request that was refused by a UK court on 5th Jan 2021 citing Assange’s mental condition and risk of suicide.
US lawyers have indicated they would appeal the decision in higher courts in the UK.
