Timeline: Key developments leading to Julian Assange's arrest
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested and taken into custody in central London, British police said on Thursday.
Assange was taken into custody at a central London police station, before he’s presented at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Julian Assange has been the subject of a sophisticated spying operation in the Ecuadorean embassy where he has been holed up since 2012, the group said.
Key developments in the affair:
- 2010: leaks, arrest warrant -
- July, October 2010:
WikiLeaks releases some 470,000 classified military documents concerning American diplomacy and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It later releases a further tranche of more than 250,000 classified US diplomatic cables.
- November 18, 2010:
A Swedish prosecutor issues a European arrest warrant for Assange over sexual assault allegations involving two Swedish women. Assange denies the claims, saying the young women consented.
- December, 2010:
Assange turns himself in to police in London and is placed in custody pending a ruling on the Swedish extradition request. He is later released on bail and calls the Swedish allegations a smear campaign.
- 2011: Extradition ruling -
- February 2011:
A British judge rules that Assange can be extradited to Sweden. Assange fears Sweden will hand him over to US authorities who could prosecute him for publishing the documents.
- 2012: refuge at embassy -
- June 2012:
Assange takes refuge in the Ecuadoran embassy in London. He requests, and is later granted, political asylum.
- 2013: Safe-conduct refused -
- October 2013:
Ecuador asks Britain in vain to allow Assange to fly to Quito.
- 2016: UN appeal -
January 2016:
Quito rejects an offer by Swedish prosecutors to question Assange in London.
February 2016:
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention says Assange has been "arbitrarily detained" and should be able to claim compensation from Britain and Sweden. Britain and Sweden rebuff the non-binding ruling.
- 2017: sex case closed -
January 2017:
WikiLeaks says Assange could travel to the US to face investigation after one of the site's main sources Chelsea Manning is given clemency -- but only if his rights were "guaranteed".
May 2017:
Swedish prosecutors say they have closed their seven-year sex assault investigation. British police say they would still arrest Assange if he leaves the embassy as he breached the terms of his bail in 2012.
December 2017:
Quito grants Assange Ecuadoran nationality. Britain refuses Ecuador's request to accord Assange diplomatic status, which would allow him to leave the embassy without being arrested.
- 2018: Ecuador seeks solution -
January 2018:
Ecuador says it is seeking a mediator to resolve Assange's "untenable" situation.
February 2018:
Assange loses a bid to have his British arrest warrant cancelled on health grounds.
March 2018:
Ecuador cuts off Assange's communications alleging he broke an agreement on interfering in other countries' affairs.
October 2018:
Ecuador imposes new conditions on Assange in the embassy, warning that breaching them could lead to the "end of asylum".
November 2018:
US prosecutors inadvertently disclose the existence of a sealed indictment against Assange.
2019: Ecuador complaint
On April 3, 2019 Moreno says Assange has "repeatedly violated" the conditions of his asylum at the embassy.
April 11:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested and taken into custody in central London.