Julian Assange will learn on Monday whether he will be extradited to the US. Here is a guide to what he did, and why he is wanted by the US.
Assange was born in Townsville, Australia, in July 1971. He became a sophisticated computer programmer. He pleaded guilty to hacking in 1995.
Assange was born in Townsville, Australia, in July 1971. He pleaded guilty to hacking in 1995.
Assange launched WikiLeaks in 2006. He created a web-based “dead letter drop” for would-be leakers.
Wikileaks released 400,000 secret US files on the Iraq war. It released more than 90,000 classified U.S. military documents on the war in Afghanistan.
The group published emails belonging to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman in 2016. They showed Clinton broke government rules by operating a private server from her home while secretary of state.
A US Senate report said in 2020, Russia had used WikiLeaks to help get Donald Trump to victory in that election. Trump dismissed the report as a hoax.
The US Justice Department formally asked Britain to extradite Assange in 2019. He will face 18 charges that he conspired to hack US government computers. These include violating espionage laws and hacking US government computers.
Assange’s team believes his life is in danger if he is extradited.
Protests are ongoing in the UK and elsewhere not to extradite Assange. This is in the run-up to the verdict.
(REUTERS)
