June 25, 2024, 7:06 am | Read time: 8 minutes
Julian Assange is an Australian investigative journalist and founder of the WikiLeaks platform. Due to his revelations, he has come under the scrutiny of the U.S. justice system. The proceedings continue to this day.
This story has everything that makes a good Hollywood blockbuster: war crimes, intelligence agencies, legal inconsistencies, diplomatic entanglements, and a polarizing protagonist. The story of Julian Assange–the face of WikiLeaks–was even made into a film in 2013, “The Fifth Estate.” However, the story continues. A man on the run. What happened so far.
Overview
The Early Years of Julian Assange
As a child and teenager, constant changes marked the life of Julian Assange, born on the east coast of Australia. His mother, Christine Ann Hawkins, reportedly moved with him and his younger brother more than 30 times. Melbourne eventually became a new home for him and his family.
As a teenager, Julian Assange was interested in computers and programming. He gained his first experiences on a C64. Even then, he was intrigued by uncovering secrets. Together with friends, he made a name for himself in the growing global hacker scene.
However, in the early 1990s, his illegal activities were discovered. Julian Assange had to pay a fine of 2,100 Australian dollars for his computer hacks. Nevertheless, he continued his passion for programming and delved deeply into the workings of encryption software.
Starting in 2003, he began studying. He tried his hand at physics and mathematics but dropped out in 2006. At the time, Julian Assange was convinced that his faculty was supporting the U.S. military with studies to improve the effectiveness of military vehicles–including bulldozers used by the U.S. in the first Iraq War.
It was during this time that Julian Assange’s plan to take action against opaque practices began to take shape. He believed that governments and organizations should be forced to publicly explain their actions by disclosing secret information. The drama began: The computer nerd transformed into the world’s most dangerous person.
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The Rise of WikiLeaks
Shortly after he prematurely ended his studies, WikiLeaks went online. Initially, the public took little notice. It was simply a website where people could anonymously upload secret information of public interest.
For this purpose, WikiLeaks has a special “mailbox.” This anonymizes the sent content and the sender using Tor technology, a completely new method at the time. This guarantees source protection for WikiLeaks. Today, almost all newsrooms have such anonymized digital mailboxes.
The anonymization allegedly goes so far that not even WikiLeaks itself can determine the source of the information. This aspect is expected to become significant as the story progresses.
In fact, starting in 2007, WikiLeaks published some high-profile information. It involved corruption worth billions, toxic waste scandals, and excerpts from the Toll Collect contracts related to the truck toll in Germany.
Can such secret information simply be published? Journalists can. It is even the most important task of journalism: to make any kind of misconduct public–keyword: fourth estate. Is Julian Assange a journalist? Answering this question also plays an important role as the story unfolds.
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Revelations and Their Consequences
In 2010, WikiLeaks received explosive documents through the anonymous mailbox. The platform began publishing the secret reports and videos in March 2010, in collaboration with the “New York Times,” the “Guardian,” and “Der Spiegel.”
The so-called “Collateral Murder” video, in particular, caused a public stir. It shows secret footage of U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, revealing apparent war crimes against civilians by U.S. forces.
The publication instantly made Julian Assange both a hero of information freedom and a target for numerous governments and intelligence agencies–especially U.S. authorities. The WikiLeaks revelations sparked worldwide shock and outrage, leading to diplomatic entanglements and public debates about warfare and human rights.
WikiLeaks’ efforts for more transparency earned the platform much praise from human rights organizations. However, there was also harsh criticism. The core of the criticism was that the publications recklessly endangered lives, as the documents released by the platform included the real names of informants.
This aspect and other points increasingly put the face of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, in the crosshairs of the U.S. government. Due to the publication of confidential documents, U.S. authorities prepared an extensive indictment. In the worst case, Julian Assange faces up to 175 years in prison in the U.S.
Flight to the Ecuadorian Embassy
The story of Julian Assange took another dramatic turn. In 2012, he fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, seeking diplomatic asylum. Julian Assange was trying to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual misconduct. The Ecuadorian government granted him diplomatic protection.
Meanwhile, Swedish, British, and U.S. authorities were pursuing Assange. Above all, the WikiLeaks founder wanted to prevent extradition to the U.S. at all costs. In the isolation of his nearly 20-square-meter embassy room, he tried to avert deportation with legal assistance.
Julian Assange received significant support from the media. Journalists worldwide called on U.S. authorities to drop all charges against the Australian. The U.S. actions were seen as a massive infringement on press freedom and investigative journalism, according to the argument.
The U.S., however, pointed out that Julian Assange was not a journalist. Thus, he had violated essential U.S. laws and was guilty of espionage. Additionally, the U.S. prosecution claimed that the WikiLeaks founder knew the source of the explosive military documents and had incited the source to obtain more secret documents. This accusation weighed the heaviest. The U.S. made Julian Assange a dangerous enemy of the state.
The allegations of sexual misconduct were partially dropped by the Swedish prosecutor’s office in 2017. On the one hand, some accusations had become time-barred, and on the other, contradictions had emerged in the police interrogation protocols.
However, Julian Assange remained in his cage. Day after day, British police waited outside the embassy because he had violated bail conditions by fleeing. Although the WikiLeaks founder could technically move freely, he faced arrest upon leaving the building. More significantly, he feared subsequent extradition by British authorities to the U.S.
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Arrest and Legal Battle
This came closer in 2019. Seven years after his asylum, Ecuador’s new government lifted Julian Assange’s diplomatic protection. He had to leave the embassy. Accompanied by the gaze of numerous cameras, he was immediately arrested.
Julian Assange then spent five years in the British high-security prison Belmarsh near London. Little was known about his health during this time. His wife, Stella Moris, was allowed to visit him regularly. As a lawyer, she fought for her husband with all legal means for years. She reported that years of solitary confinement and constant isolation had left him mentally strained and partially depressed.
Initially, the UK had agreed to extradite Julian Assange. However, Assange requested a hearing before the London High Court, the last instance. This took place in his absence, with his wife representing him before the judges.
At the end of March 2024, a decision was made–the WikiLeaks founder achieved a partial victory. He cannot be immediately extradited to the U.S., according to the court’s decision.
The question of whether Assange is entitled to an appeal was also discussed before the London High Court. The court rejected the application on six out of nine points. For the remaining three points, it now depends on whether the U.S. government and the British Home Secretary can guarantee that Assange will receive a fair trial in the U.S. under the protection of freedom of speech laws without the threat of the death penalty.
Assange Free After Five Years
A large-scale retrial did not occur. At the end of June 2024, Assange made a deal with U.S. authorities. In exchange for his guilty plea and a conviction on espionage charges, he is allowed to return to his homeland, Australia. Although the agreement still needs court approval, Assange has already been able to leave the prison near London. His five-year incarceration in the high-security prison has thus ended.
British Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed Assange’s release. His wife Stella also expressed her joy online. She posted about the turn of events on her X account (formerly Twitter). “Julian is free,” it reads.
Assange is now set to return to Australia. What happens next for him there is uncertain. Many voices criticize that his case dragged on for so long.