In August 2012, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange obtained asylum from the government of Ecuador. Different governments pursued Assange following allegations of cybercrime and sexual misconduct.

Background

Julian Assange was born in Australia, although he maintained citizenship with Ecuador from 2017-2021. He is a widely renowned activist, publisher, and editor who first came into the global picture following his establishment of Wikileaks. The leaks published by Julian Assange were highly confidential and supplied by Chelsea Manning, a U.S. Army intelligence analyst. The charges brought against Julian Assange were extreme to the point that the government of Ecuador feared he would be given the death penalty should he be sent to the U.S.

Lawsuits

The United States launched a formal criminal investigation into Wikileaks after the 2010 leaks This was seen as retaliation from the U.S. in a bid to ensure that Julian Assange did not have a platform to publish any further content.

Assange stated that the sexual misconduct charges brought against him were a pretext for his extradition to the United States from Sweden due to his decision to publish secret governmental information on the internet. He escaped to the Embassy of Ecuador in London after losing his extradition hearing. In August 2012, the government of Ecuador decided to grant him asylum.

Julian Assange lost his extradition battle to Sweden. After losing his extradition battle to Sweden, Assange breached the terms of his bail contract and escaped to the Embassy of Ecuador in London. In the same year, Julian Assange was granted asylum by the government of Ecuador.

Assange Today

Swedish authorities stopped their investigation into Julian Assange in 2019, citing that the amount of time that had elapsed since the leaks had weakened the available evidence. Assange has been in a category A prison in London since April of the same year.