The charges: Julian Assange is accused of sexually assaulting two Swedish women in Stockholm in August 2010.
Extradition fight: Assange took refuge inside Ecuador's embassy in London on June 19 after his legal appeals against being extradited from Britain to Sweden on the sex charges were virtually exhausted. Earlier that month, Britain's Supreme Court ruled that his extradition could proceed, culminating a legal fight that began with his arrest in London in December 2010 on a Swedish warrant.
About Assange: Assange, an Australian with renowned computer hacking skills, founded WikiLeaks in 2006, redefining whistleblowing by gathering documents in bulk and releasing them online globally, including thousands of confidential Pentagon and State Department documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the conduct of American diplomacy around the world. He insists that the sex charges are part of a plot to ultimately ship him to the United States for trial -- and a possible death penalty -- over the classified leaks.
NEWS SERVICES
