1987- Julian Assange makes a name as a hacker and manages to break into the US Department of Defense's computer system. He studies programming and mathematics at prominent Australian universities and has the world as a field of work. In 2006, together with other network activists, he started whistleblower organization Wikileaks, which in a short time grows into a worldwide database where leaked secret documents are made available.
April 2010: Wikileaks reaches global fame when publishing a video of an American attack helicopter on assignment in Baghdad. The pictures show how unarmed civilians are shot to death on the ground, an event the US has quieted down. Julian Assange is the organization's spokesperson and becomes a world celebrity.
August 2010: Julian Assange visits Sweden and is arrested in his absence for rape, sexual assault and unlawful coercion directed at two women he met on various occasions. Assange denies the allegations but refuses to stand for questioning, as he fears that Sweden will extradite him to the United States.
November 2010: Stockholm District Court detains Assange in his absence, on probable grounds for suspected rape, sexual assault and unlawful coercion. Assange appeals against the arrest to Svea Court of Appeal at the same time as he is wanted internationally.
December 2010: Assange arrested in London by British police. A court decides a few days later to release Assange to the bail. In a speech afterwards, he says "it feels good to feel London's fresh air again".
June 2012: The UK's highest court denies Assange's re-trial, thereby ruling out the judgments of previous courts - that Assange should be extradited to Sweden, so that police and prosecutors can hear him about the rape charges. A few days later, Assange manages to reach Ecuador's embassy in London, where he applies for political asylum.
August 2012: Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino announces that Assange is granted asylum by Ecuador. At a press conference in Quito, Patino claims that Assange risks political persecution and an unfair trial if he is extradited to the United States. According to Patino, he risks capital punishment, because his organization leaked secret documents about the United States and its relations with other countries.
Summer 2014: Just over two years after Assange moved to Ecuador's embassy, Assange demands that the Swedish arrest decision against him be revoked. But Stockholm District Court decides that he should remain detained in his absence. Media reports claim that the Australian is suffering from heart and lung problems and Assange acknowledges that staying at the embassy has been bad for his health.
March-June 2015: Prosecutor Marianne Ny requests to interrogate and DNA-topse Assange in London. This is when several of the crimes he is suspected of are being prescribed in August 2015. Assange gives his consent to be heard in London. A written confirmation is sent to the Prosecutor, but the scheduled hearings are canceled when the necessary permits have not been obtained from Ecuador.
February 2016: A UN investigation finds that Assange is illegally deprived of liberty and that he has been violated his political and civil rights. It states that he has the right to move freely and that he should be compensated for the legal violations that both the Swedish and British authorities exposed to him. The British Foreign Ministry is condemning the report.
November 2016. Assange can finally be heard at Ecuador's embassy in London. The hearings are held by Ecuadorian prosecutors and then translated into Swedish. Ecuador wants Sweden to guarantee Julian Assange that he will not be extradited if he is brought to trial in Sweden.
May 2017: The Swedish preliminary investigation against Assange is closed and the detention is lifted. British police also announce that Assange will be arrested if he leaves the embassy, as he has breached the bail conditions during the years he has stayed away.
Julian Assange commented on the decision from the balcony of Ecuador's embassy:
- Seven years without prosecution, while my children grew up without me. It's not something I can forgive or forget.
January-March 2018: Assange is granted Ecuadorian citizenship, but the British authorities do not grant him diplomatic immunity. Instead, the arrest warrant remains. At the same time, he is beginning to become a burden to Ecuador, as he engages in political activism and comments on the actions of other states. One consequence is that Assange's internet connection is withdrawn.
October 2018: New tougher rules are introduced for Assange at Ecuador's London Embassy. It is about different types of restrictions, but also that he has to clean up after him, take care of his cat and pay more for food and shelter. At the same time he gets back some internet connection. According to Wikileak's lawyers, Assange is preparing legal action against his new homeland for violating his civil rights, including not allowing him to meet with representatives of the human rights organization Human Rights Watch.
April 2019: According to Wikileaks sources, Assange will soon be ejected from the embassy. This is after Ecuador's new President Lenín Moreno accused him of not following the rules. The information is demented by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
April 11, 2019: British police are invited to the embassy where they seize Assange, who is literally being carried out the door, screaming and with his head in front. He is taken to a police station in central London where he is held detained for the time being. On the same day, he is requested to be extradited to the United States and deprived of his Ecuadorian citizenship.
May 13, 2019: Swedish Deputy Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson announces that the preliminary investigation into one of the rapes for which Assange was charged will resume. Assange faces a maximum of four years in prison for the crime.