Leaked secrets, an embassy saga, and legal battles: Julian Assange's controversial years

Julian Assange's bid to avoid extradition to the United States has reached a critical stage. Here's how it got to this point.

(Left) Julian Assange's wife, Stella, leaves the Royal Courts of Justice in London on the first day of her husband's final appeal hearing on Tuesday. (Right) Julian Assange pictured inside a police vehicle in April 2019. Source: Getty

Julian Assange, the 52-year-old Australian fighting extradition from Britain to the United States, is for some a fearless campaigner for press freedom. For others, he was reckless with classified information, possibly endangering sources.

Assange is the figurehead of WikiLeaks, the whistleblowing website that exposed government secrets worldwide, notably the explosive leak of US military and diplomatic files related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He has spent over a decade either in custody or holed up in Ecuador's London embassy, trying to avoid extradition — first to Sweden to answer allegations of rape, and then to the US.

Here's how that has unfolded.

- With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse, and Reuters via the Australian Associated Press.