Australian editor, publisher, and activist, founder of WikiLeaks (born 1971)
Julian Assange
Assange in 2014
Born Julian Paul Hawkins
(1971-07-03 ) 3 July 1971 (age 52) Citizenship Australia Ecuador (2017–2021) Occupations Years active 1987–present Known for Founding WikiLeaks Title Director [1] and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks (2006–2018); publisher (since 2018)[2] Political party WikiLeaks (2013–2015)Spouses
Teresa Assange
(
m. 1989;
div. 1999)
Awards Full list
Julian Paul Assange ( ə-SAHNZH ;[3] né Hawkins ; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to wide international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of leaks from US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning :[4] footage of a US airstrike in Baghdad , US military logs from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and US diplomatic cables . Assange has won multiple awards for publishing and journalism.
Assange was raised in several towns in Australia until his family settled in Melbourne in his mid-teens. He became involved in the hacker community and was convicted for hacking in 1996.[5] [6] [7] Following the establishment of WikiLeaks, Assange was its editor when it published the Bank Julius Baer documents , footage of the 2008 Tibetan unrest , and a report on political killings in Kenya with The Sunday Times .
In November 2010, Sweden issued a European arrest warrant for Assange, for questioning in an investigation.[8] After losing his appeal against the warrant, he breached bail and took refuge in the Embassy of Ecuador in London in June 2012.[9] He was granted asylum by Ecuador in August 2012[10] on the grounds of political persecution and fears he might be extradited to the United States.[11] He stood for the Australian Senate in 2013 and launched the WikiLeaks Party but failed to win a seat.[12] [13] Swedish prosecutors dropped the investigation in 2019.[14]
On 11 April 2019, Assange's asylum was withdrawn following a series of disputes with Ecuadorian authorities.[15] The police were invited into the embassy and he was arrested.[16] He was found guilty of breaching the Bail Act and sentenced to 50 weeks in prison.[17] The U.S. government unsealed an indictment charging Assange with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion related to the leaks provided by Manning.[18] In May 2019 and June 2020, the U.S. government unsealed new indictments against Assange, charging him with violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and alleging he had conspired with hackers.[19] [20] [21] Assange has been incarcerated in HM Prison Belmarsh in London since April 2019, as the United States government's extradition effort is contested in the British courts.[22] [23] [24]
^ McGreal, Chris (5 April 2010). "Wikileaks reveals video showing US air crew shooting down Iraqi civilians" . The Guardian . London. Archived from the original on 26 June 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2010 .
^ "WikiLeaks names one-time spokesman as editor-in-chief" . Associated Press . Retrieved 26 September 2018 .
^ "The Julian Assange Show: Cypherpunks Uncut (p.1)" on YouTube
^ "USA must drop charges against Julian Assange" . Amnesty International . Retrieved 21 February 2024 .
^ Lagan, Bernard (10 April 2010). "International man of mystery" . The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 17 March 2014 .
^ Leigh, David ; Harding, Luke Daniel (30 January 2011). "Julian Assange: the teen hacker who became insurgent in information war" . The Guardian . Retrieved 17 March 2014 .
^ "Julian Assange: the hacker who created WikiLeaks" . Christian Science Monitor . ISSN 0882-7729 . Retrieved 13 February 2023 .
^ "Wikileaks' Assange faces international arrest warrant" . BBC News . 20 November 2010.
^ Bowater, Donna (20 June 2012). "Julian Assange faces re-arrest over breaching his bail condition by seeking asylum in Ecuador" . The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 10 January 2022.
^ Neuman, William; Ayala, Maggy (16 August 2012). "Ecuador Grants Asylum to Assange, Defying Britain" . The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 27 June 2021 .
^ Wallace, Arturo (16 August 2012). "Julian Assange: Why Ecuador is offering asylum" . BBC. Retrieved 16 May 2019 .
^ Dorling, Philip (26 March 2012). "Assange: what I'll do in the Senate" . The Age . Retrieved 9 October 2023 .
^ "Julian Assange: WikiLeaks party will continue" . The Guardian . 8 September 2013.
^ "Julian Assange: Sweden drops rape investigation" . BBC. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2022 .
^ Ma, Alexandra (14 April 2019). "Assange's arrest was designed to make sure he didn't press a mysterious panic button he said would bring dire consequences for Ecuador" . Business Insider . Retrieved 14 April 2019 .
^ "Police arrest Julian Assange at Ecuadorian Embassy in London" . CNN . 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019 .
^ "Julian Assange jailed over bail breach" . BBC News . 1 May 2019.
^ "WikiLeaks Founder Charged in Computer Hacking Conspiracy" . United States Attorney’s Office . Alexandria, Virginia. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2023 .
^ "WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Charged in 18-Count Superseding Indictment" . US Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs . 23 May 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2023 .
^ "WikiLeaks Founder Charged in Superseding Indictment" . US Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs . 24 June 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2023 .
^ "WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Accused of Conspiring With LulzSec and Anonymous Hackers" . Time . 25 June 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2023 .
^ Rebaza, Claudia; Fox, Kara (4 January 2021). "UK judge denies US request to extradite Julian Assange" . CNN . Retrieved 4 January 2021 .
^ "UK judge denies bail for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange" . CNN . 6 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021 .
^ Doherty, Ben (9 June 2023). "Julian Assange 'dangerously close' to US extradition after losing latest legal appeal" . The Guardian . Retrieved 10 June 2023 .