Key dates in the Julian Assange case

The U.S. has moved a step closer to extraditing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on espionage charges, after senior British judges were assured that U.S. conditions would reduce his risk of suicide
 

Feb 2010: U.S. Army soldier Chelsea Manning (above, formerly Bradley Manning, before transitioning in 2013) passes nearly 500,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks (non-profit organisation that publish news leaks from anonymous sources)

Over next two years WikiLeaks publish majority of documents in several batches, under titles such as Afghanistan War Logs and Iraq War Logs. They expose secret U.S. Army accounts of civilian deaths, wrongful detentions and other sensitive material during America’s War on Terror

Leaked U.S. helicopter footage of 2007 Baghdad airstrike that killed two Reuters journalists

May: Manning arrested

Aug: Julian Assange (above top, in 2010) interviewed by police in Sweden following rape and molestation allegations

Sep: Assange leaves Sweden for London, UK

Nov: Sweden issues European Arrest Warrant for Assange

Dec: Assange presents himself to UK police and appears at extradition hearing. Granted bail, but must reside in Norfolk

Feb 2011: UK judge rules Assange should be extradited to Sweden

Nov 2011-May 2012: Assange loses legal appeals

Jun 19, 2012: Assange enters Ecuadorian embassy in London, requesting political asylum, fearing moves are underway to extradite him to U.S.

SELF-IMPOSED INCARCERATION

Assange lives for almost seven years, mostly confined to single room

Bookcase: Acts as partition to single mattress for sleeping

Oxygen
In case of gas attack

Computer workstation 
Mar 2018: Embassy cuts off internet

Treadmill:
Gift from filmmaker Ken Loach

6m
3m

Aug: Manning sentenced to 35 years in military prison

Aug 2015: Sweden drops investigations into some sex allegations

Oct 12: Police end 24-hour presence outside embassy which has cost £12m ($18m)

Oct 2016: WikiLeaks publishes hacked Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails, to political benefit of presidential candidate Donald Trump (below)

Jan 2017: President Barack Obama frees Manning

May: Sweden drops more sex allegations

Aug: Assange allegedly offered deal to avoid U.S. extradition in exchange for revealing source of DNC leak (suspected to be Russian hackers)

Sep 2018: Assange resigns as editor of WikiLeaks

Apr 11, 2019: Ecuador withdraws asylum status, citing poor behaviour

Dishevelled and yelling, Assange is arrested by police, dragged from embassy and bundled into waiting van

May 1: Assange sentenced to 50 weeks in Belmarsh Prison for breaching bail conditions set in 2011

Nov 19: Sweden drops alleged rape investigation

Feb 2020: Assange faces U.S. extradition hearing over alleged role in Manning leak. Defence argues Assange cannot be handed over for political offences because of 2003 extradition treaty. Assange faces maximum of 175 years in prison if found guilty of 18 offences listed in indictment

Mar: Assange refused bail amid coronavirus pandemic

Sep: Assange’s extradition hearing resumes at Old Bailey

Oct 1: Judge Vanessa Baraitser adjourns case

Jan 4, 2021: Judge blocks extradition request, citing concerns over Assange's mental health

Dec 10: Senior judges quash lower judge’s ruling, after U.S. says Assange would not be put in solitary confinement - reducing risk of suicide

Sources: ABC News, Sydney Morning Herald, PA, Mediengruppe Bitnik 
Pictures: Getty Images, Associated Press, Creative Commons 
© GRAPHIC NEWS