1987 -
Julian Assange makes a name for himself as a hacker and manages, among other things, 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 his field of work.
In 2006, together with other online activists, he started the whistleblower organization Wikileaks, which in a short time is growing into a worldwide database where leaked secret documents are made available.
April 2010:
Wikileaks reaches global fame when it publishes a video from a US attack helicopter on mission in Baghdad.
The pictures show how unarmed civilians were shot dead on the ground, an event that the United States silenced.
Julian Assange is the organization's spokesperson and becomes a world celebrity.
August 2010:
Julian Assange visits Sweden and is arrested in his absence on suspicion of rape, sexual harassment and unlawful coercion against two women he has met on different occasions.
Assange denies the allegations but refuses to appear for questioning, as he fears that Sweden will extradite him to the United States.
November 2010:
Stockholm District Court arrests Assange in his absence, on probable cause on suspicion of rape, sexual harassment and unlawful coercion.
Assange is appealing the arrest to the Svea Court of Appeal at the same time as he is internationally wanted.
December 2010:
Assange arrested in London by British police.
A court decides a few days later to release Assange on bail.
In a speech afterwards, he says "that it feels good to feel the fresh air of London again".
June 2012: The
UK's Supreme Court denies Assange a new trial and thus upholds the verdicts from previous instances - that Assange should be extradited to Sweden, so that police and prosecutors can question him about the rape allegations.
A few days later, Assange manages to get to the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he applies for political asylum.
Assange supporters demonstrate outside the Supreme Court in London 2012. Photo: AP / TT
August 2012:
Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino announces that Assange will be 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 the death penalty 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 detention decision against him be revoked.
But the Stockholm District Court decides that he should remain in custody in his absence.
Media reports claim that the Australian suffers from heart and lung problems and Assange admits that the stay at the embassy was bad for his health.
Wikileaks founder Assange in a video in March 2017. Photo: AP / TT
March-June 2015:
Chief Prosecutor Marianne Ny requests to interrogate and DNA-test Assange in London.
This is because several of the crimes he is suspected of are statute-barred in August 2015. Assange gives his consent to be questioned in London.
A written confirmation is sent to the chief prosecutor, but the scheduled interrogations are canceled as the required permits have not been obtained from Ecuador.
February 2016:
A UN inquiry concludes that Assange has been illegally detained and that his political and civil rights have been violated.
It states that he has the right to move freely and that he should receive compensation for the legal violations to which both Swedish and British authorities have subjected him.
The British Foreign Office condemns the report.
November 2016.
Assange can finally be questioned at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
The interrogations 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 justice in Sweden.
May 2017:
The Swedish preliminary investigation against Assange is closed and the arrest is lifted.
At the same time, British police announce that Assange will be arrested if he leaves the embassy, as he has violated bail conditions during the years he has stayed away.
Julian Assange commented on the decision from the balcony of the Ecuadorian 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 begins to become a burden to Ecuador, as he engages in political activism and speaks out on the actions of other states.
One consequence is that Assange's internet connection is withdrawn.
A large press contingent has gathered outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London pending a response from Julian Assange.
Photo: TT / Reuters / Peter Nicholls
October 2018:
New stricter rules are introduced for Assange at Ecuador's London Embassy.
It is about different types of restrictions, but also that he should clean up after himself, take care of his cat and pay more for food and housing.
At the same time, he gets back some internet connection.
According to Wikileaks' lawyers, Assange is preparing legal action against his new home country for violating his civil rights, including by 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 expelled from the embassy.
This after Ecuador's new president Lenín Moreno accused him of not following the rules.
The information is denied by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Later, British police are invited to the embassy where they arrest Assange, who is literally carried out the door, screaming and with his head in front.
He is taken to a police station in central London where he is detained for the time being.
On the same day, he is extradited to the United States and deprived of his Ecuadorian citizenship.
January 2021:
A British court rules that Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States.
In the event of extradition, he would, according to his own statement, risk over 100 years in prison.
The decision can be appealed, a process that can take several more years.