The Curious Case Of Julian Assange

Mar 26, 2024 Image: AFP [{ "selector": ".bobws-a", "duration": "1000ms", "fill": "forwards", "delay": "0ms", "keyframes": [ {"offset": 0, "opacity": 0}, {"offset": 1, "opacity": "1"} ] }, { "selector": ".clfpl-a", "duration": "1000ms", "fill": "forwards", "delay": "1000ms", "keyframes": [ {"offset": 0, "opacity": 0}, {"offset": 1, "opacity": "1"} ] }, { "selector": ".lskna-a", "duration": "1000ms", "fill": "forwards", "delay": "2000ms", "keyframes": [ {"offset": 0, "opacity": 0}, {"offset": 1, "opacity": "1"} ] }, { "selector": ".uelaw-a", "duration": "1000ms", "fill": "forwards", "delay": "2000ms", "keyframes": [ {"offset": 0, "opacity": 0}, {"offset": 1, "opacity": "1"} ] }, { "selector": ".iowem-a", "duration": "1000ms", "fill": "forwards", "delay": "0ms", "keyframes": [ {"offset": 0, "opacity": 0}, {"offset": 1, "opacity": "1"} ] }]

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is a journalist who faces extradition to the US on spying charges

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He launched WikiLeaks in 2006, creating a web-based platform for potential leakers to share info

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WikiLeaks has released thousands of classified US military documents on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq

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It also released 250,000 secret diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world that were carried by the media

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It also released 250,000 secret diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world

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This angered US politicians and military officials, who said the unauthorised dissemination put lives at risk

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Assange was arrested in 2010 in the UK in a probe into sex crime charges by two WikiLeaks volunteers

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Assange believes the case was a pretext to extradite him to the US to face charges over the WikiLeaks releases

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Assange got Ecuadorean asylum in 2012 and lived in the cramped embassy quarters in London with his partner and children

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In 2019, Ecuador revoked his asylum and Assange was arrested with the US formally seeking his extradition

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In the US, Assange faces 18 charges for conspiring to hack government computers and violated espionage laws

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If convicted, his supporters fear he could face 175 years in prison, but US prosecutors say it won't be more than 63 months

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