The Australian WikiLeaks founder faces prosecution in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information after the publication of hundreds of thousands of documents.
Julian Assange is set to face judgement day with the High Court due to give a final ruling over whether he will be extradited to the US on espionage charges.
A decision is expected today over whether the US's assurances over Assange's safety and freedom of speech are sufficient. If they are not, the WikiLeaks founder will be able to appeal his extradition. These assurances are that Assange would be protected by the First Amendment - which protects freedom of speech in the US - that he is not 'prejudiced at trial' due to his nationality, and that the death penalty is not imposed.
Assange's only hope would then be to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, which could order a stay on the extradition if it decides there are 'exceptional circumstances'. But the US continued to seek extradition and accuses him of publishing some 700,000 confidential documents relating to US military and diplomatic activities, starting in 2010.
The United States indicted Assange multiple times between 2018 and 2020 but President Joe Biden has faced persistent domestic and international pressure to drop the case filed under his predecessor Donald Trump. November 2010: Stockholm District Court approves a request to detain the WikiLeaks founder for questioning on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion. An international arrest warrant is issued by Swedish police through Interpol.
September 16, 2016: Sweden's Court of Appeal rejects a bid by Assange to have his sex assault warrant dropped. August 15, 2017: Assange is allegedly offered a deal to avoid extradition in exchange for revealing the source of hacked Democratic Party emails to end speculation over Russian involvement. May 1, 2019: Assange is sentenced to 50 weeks' imprisonment by Southwark Crown Court. He continues to be held on remand in Belmarsh from September after serving the custodial sentence.February 24, 2020: Assange faces an extradition hearing at Woolwich Crown Court, where his representatives argue he cannot legally be handed to the US for 'political offences' because of a 2003 extradition treaty.
December 10, 2021: The US government wins its High Court bid to overturn the judge's decision not to extradite Assange.
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