The Legal Saga of Julian Assange: Main Dates in a Decade-long Fight for Freedom

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been involved in a legal battle for over a decade. The saga began 14 years ago and recently saw a new chapter being written as Assange agreed to plead guilty to US authorities. On Monday, he was released from a high-security prison near London, where he had been incarcerated for five years. The 52-year-old Australian immediately left the United Kingdom, marking the end of more than 10 years of legal battles.

When Assange launched WikiLeaks in 2006 with the goal of “liberating the press” and uncovering state secrets and abuses, he quickly became known as “the most dangerous man in the world.” His reputation grew in 2010 when WikiLeaks published confidential documents on the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, as well as American diplomatic cables. While some hailed him as a champion of freedom of information, others, including Joe Biden, referred to him as a “high-tech terrorist.”

Assange’s legal troubles escalated in 2010 when Sweden issued a European arrest warrant for him in connection with rape and sexual assault allegations. He denied the charges and sought asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012. Despite obtaining Ecuadorian nationality, Assange was arrested by British police in 2019 and faced extradition to the US on charges relating to hacking and espionage.

After years of legal battles and extradition requests, Assange reached a plea agreement with American authorities in June 2024. This allowed him to leave the United Kingdom and appear in a federal court in the Mariana Islands to face charges of “conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information.” The case has garnered international attention and sparked debate over freedom of information, national security, and the rights of whistleblowers.