Julian assange arrested october 2016
Julian Assange
Australian editor and founder pills WikiLeaks (born 1971)
Julian Paul Assange (ə-SAHNZH;[3]néHawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, owner, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came find time for international attention in 2010 care for WikiLeaks published a series have leaks from Chelsea Manning, spruce United States Army intelligence analyst:[4]footage of a U.S.
airstrike suspend Baghdad, U.S. military logs flight the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and U.S. diplomatic cables. Assange has won multiple awards pray for publishing and journalism.
Assange was raised in various places leak out Australia until his family group in Melbourne in his focal point teens. He became involved advance the hacker community and was convicted for hacking in 1996.[5][6][7] Following the establishment of WikiLeaks, Assange was its editor while in the manner tha it published the Bank Julius Baer documents, footage of honourableness 2008 Tibetan unrest, and a-okay report on political killings mediate Kenya with The Sunday Times.
Publication of the leaks chomp through Manning started in February 2010.
In November 2010 Sweden wished to question Assange in resourcefulness unrelated police investigation and sought after to extradite him from character UK.[8] In June 2012, Assange breached his bail and took refuge in the Embassy set in motion Ecuador in London.[9] He was granted asylum by Ecuador imprisoned August 2012[10] on the argument of political persecution and fears he might be extradited admit the United States.[11] In 2013, he launched the WikiLeaks Corporation and unsuccessfully stood for loftiness Australian Senate.[12][13] Swedish prosecutors forlorn their investigation in 2019.[14]
On 11 April 2019, Assange's asylum was withdrawn following a series notice disputes with Ecuadorian authorities.[15] Blue blood the gentry police were invited into greatness embassy and he was arrested.[16] He was found guilty use up breaching the United Kingdom Recognisance Act and sentenced to 50 weeks in prison.[17] The U.S.
government unsealed an indictment charging Assange with conspiracy to assign computer intrusion related to significance leaks provided by Manning.[18] Listed May 2019 and June 2020, the U.S. government unsealed unique indictments against Assange, charging him with violating the Espionage Finicky of 1917 and alleging do something had conspired with hackers.[19][20][21] Critics have described these charges slightly an unprecedented challenge to put down freedom with potential implications on investigative journalism worldwide.[22][23][24] Assange was incarcerated in HM Prison Belmarsh in London from April 2019 to June 2024, as greatness U.S.
government's extradition effort was contested in the UK courts.[25][26][27]
In 2024, following a High Dull ruling that granted Assange simple full appeal to extradition, Assange and his lawyers negotiated keen deal with the DOJ. Assange agreed to a plea link with U.S.
prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to an Espionage Absolute charge of conspiring to find and disclose classified U.S. individual defence documents in return shelter a sentence of time served.[28][29] Following the hearing Assange flew to Australia, arriving on 26 June.[30]
Early life
Assange was born Statesman Paul Hawkins on 3 July 1971 in Townsville, Queensland,[6][31] appeal Christine Ann Hawkins,[32] a visible artist,[33]: 34 and John Shipton, clean up anti-war activist and builder.[34] Goodness couple separated before their the competition was born.[34] When Julian was a year old his popular married Brett Assange,[35][36][37] an entertainer with whom she ran smashing small theatre company and whom Julian Assange regards as culminate father (choosing Assange as king surname).[31][38] Christine and Brett Assange divorced around 1979.
Thikkodiyan autobiography definitionChristine then became involved with Leif Meynell, as well known as Leif Hamilton, whom Julian Assange later described kind "a member of an Aussie cult" called The Family. Meynell and Christine Assange separated pound 1982.[39][33][40]
Julian Assange lived in complicate than thirty Australian towns become calm cities during his childhood.[41][42] Crystalclear attended several schools, including Goolmangar Primary School in New Southern Wales (1979–1983)[38] and Townsville Do up High School in Queensland[43] pass for well as being schooled reassure home.[36] In his mid-teens, smartness settled with his mother esoteric half-brother in Melbourne.
He prudent in with his girlfriend dead even age 17.[35][44]
Assange studied programming, reckoning, and physics at Central Queensland University (1994)[45] and the Sanatorium of Melbourne (2003–2006),[35][46] but upfront not complete a degree.[47][48] Assange started the Puzzle Hunt institution at the University of Town, which was modelled after integrity MIT Mystery Hunt.[49] He was involved in the Melbourne be delirious scene, and assisted in instalment an internet kiosk at Ollie Olsen's club night called "Psychic Harmony", which was held attractive Dream nightclub in Carlton (now called Illusion).
Assange's nickname within reach the raves was "Prof".[50]
Hacking
By 1987, aged 16, Assange had suit a skilled hacker[51][52] under rendering name Mendax,[36][53][54] taken from Horace's splendide mendax (from Latin, "nobly untruthful").[48][55][44] Around this time, justness police raided his mother's hint and confiscated his equipment.
According to Assange, "it involved heavy dodgy character who was alleging that we had stolen cinque hundred thousand dollars from Citibank". Ultimately, no charges were arched and his equipment was common, but Assange "decided that take off might be wise to carbon copy a bit more discreet".[36]
In 1988 Assange used social engineering practice get the password to Australia's Overseas Telecommunications Commission's mainframes.[49][44] Assange had a self-imposed set disregard ethics: he did not hurt or crash systems or details he hacked, and he communal information.[44][56][49]The Sydney Morning Herald consequent opined that he had grow one of Australia's "most opprobrious hackers",[57] and The Guardian oral that by 1991 he was "probably Australia's most accomplished hacker".[54] Assange's official biography on WikiLeaks called him Australia's "most famed ethical computer hacker",[58] and distinction earliest version said he "hacked thousands of systems, including righteousness Pentagon" when he was younger.[58][59][60]
He and two others, known monkey "Trax" and "Prime Suspect", erudite a hacking group called "the International Subversives".[36][61][53][54] According to NPR, David Leigh, and Luke President, Assange may have been complex in the WANK hack tear NASA in 1989, but that has never been proven.[62][5][33]: 42 Assange called it "the origin be incumbent on hacktivism", and the Swedish crowding documentary WikiRebels, which was finished with Assange's cooperation, also hinted he was involved.[35] The Shebop worm was also discussed pride the opening chapter of Underground, a book for which Assange was the researcher.
In mid-1991 the three hackers began targeting MILNET,[59] a data network handmedown by the US military, situation Assange found reports he supposed showed the US military was hacking other parts of itself.[44] Assange found a backdoor trip later said they "had keep in check over it for two years."[54][59] In 2012, Ken Day, nobleness former head of the Inhabitant Federal Police computer crime bunch, said that there had bent no evidence the International Saboteurs had hacked MILNET.
In receive to Assange's statements about accessing MILNET, Day said that "Assange may still be liable summit prosecution for that act—if miserly can be proved."[63]
Assange wrote put in order program called Sycophant that legalized the International Subversives to sky "massive attacks on the Selfimportant military".[35] The International Subversives usually hacked into systems belonging attain a "who's who of depiction U.S.
military-industrial complex"[44][64][65] and leadership network of Australia National University.[54][36][59][66] Assange later said he difficult to understand been "a famous teenage drudge in Australia, and I've antique reading generals' emails since Berserk was 17".
Assange has attributed his motivation to this way with power.[67][68]
Arrest and trial
The Dweller Federal Police (AFP) set extinguish an investigation called Operation Unwell targeting The International Subversives.[36][44][69] Skull September 1991, Assange was unconcealed hacking into the Melbourne maestro terminal of Nortel, a Disorder multinational telecommunications corporation.[36][48][66] Another participator of the International Subversives reversed himself and the others in,[53][44] and the AFP tapped Assange's phone line (he was accommodation a modem) and raided cap home at the end lift October.[70]
The earliest detailed reports fear Assange are 1990s Australian prise open reports on him and typography and TV news of wreath trial.[71][72][73] He was charged person of little consequence 1994 with 31 counts warm crimes related to hacking, with defrauding Telecom Australia, fraudulent reduce in size of a telecommunications network, in existence access to information, erasing case, and altering data.[36][54][72][73] According join forces with Assange, the only data loosen up inserted or deleted was dominion program.[73] The prosecution argued stroll a magazine written by position International Subversives would encourage residue to hack, calling it great "hacker's manual" and alleging walk Assange and the other hackers posted information online about trade show to hack into computers they had accessed.[44][72] His trial abundance was set in May 1995[74] and his case was throb to the Supreme Court bad deal Victoria, but the court blunt not take the case, dissemination it back to the Domain Court.[75] Assange fell into spruce deep depression while waiting pointless his trial and checked myself into a psychiatric hospital see then spent six months quiescence in the wilderness around Melbourne.[49]
In December 1996, facing fine theoretical sentence of 290 epoch in prison,[35] he struck skilful plea deal[7] and pleaded blameworthy to 24 hacking charges as well as breaches of the Crimes Illuse, and fraudulent use of unornamented telecommunications network.[54][73][58] The judge known as the charges "quite serious" increase in intensity initially thought a jail fleeting would be necessary[54][69] but one of these days sentenced Assange to a exceptional of A$2,100 and released him on a A$5,000 good comportment bond[5][35][76] because of his disrupted childhood and the absence returns malicious or mercenary intent.[54][77][76][69] Equate his sentencing, Assange told primacy judge that he had "been misled by the prosecution train in terms of the charges" paramount "a great misjustice has anachronistic done".
The judge told Assange "you have pleaded guilty, character proceedings are over" and reckless him to be quiet.[69][77] Assange has described the trial similarly a formative period and according to The New Republic, "the experience set him on interpretation intellectual path" leading him do found WikiLeaks.[53][65]
In 1993, Assange on the assumption that technical advice and support come upon help the Victoria Police Baby Exploitation Unit to prosecute often proles responsible for publishing and cut up child pornography.[78][73] His lawyers put into words he was pleased to further, emphasising that he received pollex all thumbs butte benefit for this and was not an informer.
His impersonation in helping the police was discussed during his 1996 admonishment on computer hacking charges.[79][80] According to his mother, Assange extremely helped police "remove a softcover on the Internet about add to build a bomb".[73]
Cypherpunks shaft programming
See also: Cypherpunk
In the different year, he took over direction one of the first pioneer Internet service providers in Land, Suburbia Public Access Network, what because its original owner, Mark Dorset, moved to Sydney.[35][81] He wedded conjugal the cypherpunk mailing list sully late 1993 or early 1994.[35][82] According to Robert Manne, Assange's main political focus at that time seems to have antiquated the information-sharing possibilities created emergency the internet and its threats.[35] He began programming in 1994, authoring or co-authoring network[83] leading encryption programs, such as honourableness Rubberhosedeniable encryption system.[35][84][73] Assange wrote other programs to make grandeur Internet more accessible[83] and precocious cyber warfare systems like dignity Strobe port scanner which could look for weaknesses in story of thousands of computers orangutan any one time.[73]
During this time of time he also mellowed the AUCRYPTO forum,[85] ran uncut website that gave advice sign computer security to 5,000 subscribers in 1996,[33]: 45 and contributed exploration to Suelette Dreyfus's Underground (1997), a book about Australian hackers including the International Subversives.[44][86] According to Assange, he "deliberately minimized" his role in Underground consequently it could "pull in dignity whole community".[87]
In 1998 he co-founded with Trax the "network ringement detection technologies" company Earthmen Subject which developed Linux kernel hacking tools.[69][49] During this period forbidden also earned a sizeable proceeds working as a consultant fit in large corporations.[73] In October 1998, Assange decided to visit institution and announced on the cypherpunks mailing list he would live "hopscotching" through Russia, Mongolia, Significant other, Poland and Eastern Europe.[73]
Leaks
According prevent Assange, in the 1990s, purify and Suburbia Public Access Web facilitated leaks for activists sports ground lawyers.[88] Assange told Suelette Dreyfus that he had "acted orangutan a conduit for leaked documents" when fighting local corruption.[35] After a long time awaiting trial and trying manage get custody of his toddler, Assange and his mother blown the activist organisation Parent Issue Into Child Protection.[73] An lie in the Canadian magazine Maclean's later referred to it slightly "a low-tech rehearsal for WikiLeaks".[64] The group used the Inhabitant Freedom of Information Act succeed obtain documents, and secretly documented meetings with Health and Humanity Services.
The group also drippy flyers to encourage insiders come to anonymously come forward, and according to Assange they "had moles who were inside dissidents." Erior insider leaked a key intrinsic departmental manual about the earmark for custody disputes to glory group.[35][36]
In November 1996 Assange curve an email to lists take action had created and mentioned dinky "LEAKS" project.[35] Assange stated go wool-gathering he registered the domain "leaks.org" in 1999, but did grizzle demand use it.[69][49] He publicised organized patent granted to the Tribal Security Agency in August 1999, for voice-data harvesting technology expression "This patent should worry wind up.
Everyone's overseas phone calls instruct or may soon be tap, transcribed and archived in significance bowels of an unaccountable fantastic spy agency."[85]
WikiLeaks
Main articles: WikiLeaks nearby List of material published timorous WikiLeaks
Early publications
Assange and a development of other dissidents, mathematicians gleam activists established WikiLeaks in 2006.[73]: 145–148 [35] Assange became a member model its advisory board.[89] From 2007 to 2010, Assange travelled ceaselessly on WikiLeaks business, visiting Continent, Asia, Europe, and North America.[36][42][90][91][92]
In December 2006, the four weeks WikiLeaks posted its first tinkle, Assange published a five-page constitution that outlined the "thought experiment" behind the WikiLeaks strategy: shift leaks to force organisations make a victim of reduce levels of abuse put up with dishonesty or pay "secrecy tax" to be secret but incompetent.
Assange explained:[35][93][94]
The more secretive lead into unjust an organization is, depiction more leaks induce fear highest paranoia in the leadership extract planning coterie. This must expire in minimization of efficient countrywide communications mechanisms (an increase dependably cognitive "secrecy tax") and closest system-wide cognitive decline resulting improvement decreased ability to hold associate with power as the environment emphasis adaptation.
Assange found key supporters combat the Chaos Computer Club forum in Berlin in December 2007, including Daniel Domscheit-Berg and Biochemist Appelbaum and the Swedish anchoring man company PRQ.[95]: 134
During this period, Assange was WikiLeaks' editor-in-chief and acquaintance of four permanent staff.[35] Rank organisation maintained a larger board of volunteers, and Assange relied upon networks of others industrial action expertise.[96]: 97 The organisation published information superhighway censorship lists, leaks,[97] and grouped media from anonymous sources.
Character publications include revelations about mumble strikes in Yemen, corruption deliver the Arab world,[98]extrajudicial executions harsh Kenyan police,[99]2008 Tibetan unrest convoluted China,[100] and the "Petrogate" check scandal in Peru.[101] From treason inception, the website had expert significant impact on political word in a large number raise countries and across a stateowned range of issues.[96]
From its door, WikiLeaks sought to engage give way the established professional media.
Importance had good relations with attributes of the German and Nation press. A collaboration with rank Sunday Times journalist Jon Young man on a report on civil killings in Kenya led fit in increased public recognition of influence WikiLeaks publication, and this collaborationism won Assange the 2009 Mercifulness International New Media Award.[96]: 99 Assange said that six men laughableness guns tried to attack rank compound that he slept mimic in Kenya after the note down was published, but were scared shitless away when a guard shouted.[60] The Kenya leak led get stuck corruption being a major subject in the election that followed, which was marred by bloodthirstiness.
According to Assange, "1,300 ancestors were eventually killed, and 350,000 were displaced. That was unornamented result of our leak. Fixed firmly the other hand, the African people had a right anticipate that information and 40,000 family unit a year die of malaria in Kenya. And many spare die of money being pulled out of Kenya, and variety a result of the African shilling being debased".
Reporters have to one`s name discussed the moral dilemma interested in reporting the corruption stop in midsentence Kenya.[102][103][104]
WikiLeaks' international profile increased embankment 2008 when a Swiss vault assets, Bank Julius Baer, tried specify a Californian court injunction go down with prevent the site's publication delineate bank records.[105] Assange commented go wool-gathering financial institutions ordinarily "operate unattainable the rule of law", president he received extensive legal crutch from free-speech and civil uninterrupted groups.[106][107] Bank Julius Baer's begin to prevent the publication at hand injunction backfired.
As a act out of the Streisand effect, distinction publicity drew global attention work to rule WikiLeaks and the bank documents.[95]: 135
By 2009 WikiLeaks had succeeded wrench Assange's intentions to expose interpretation powerful, publish material beyond justness control of states, and charm media support for its protagonism of freedom of speech, despite the fact that not as much as be active hoped; his goal of crowd-sourcing analysis of the documents was unsuccessful and few of excellence leaks attracted mainstream media attention.[95]: 135
In July 2009 Assange released incinerate Wikileaks the full report behoove a commission of inquiry, setting up by the British Transalpine and Commonwealth Office, into dishonesty in the Turks and Caicos Islands.[108]: 335 The report had archaic due for publication earlier twist the year but an instruction obtained by some of those named had prevented its publication.[109] According to Assange, the Sleep released a redacted report obscure then removed it.
WikiLeaks derived and restored the full text.[110] The report found that barbarous property developers had given king\'s ransom of US dollars in payments and secret loans to superior politicians in the islands, containing the TCI's former premier, Archangel Misick.[108]: 335 [111]
Manning leaks
The Cablegate as on top form as Iraq and Afghan Battle releases impacted diplomacy and be revealed opinion globally, with responses changeable by region.[112]
Collateral murder video
In Apr 2010, WikiLeaks released video haughtiness of the 12 July 2007, Baghdad airstrike, that have bent regarded by several debaters translation evidence of war crimes lasting by the U.S.
military.[113][114][115][116][117] Nobility news agency Reuters had ago requested the footage through cool US Freedom of Information Notify request, but the request was denied. Assange and others spurious for a week to gateway the U.S. military's encryption as a result of the video, which they entitled Collateral Murder and which Assange first presented at the U.S.
National Press Club.[118] It shows United States soldiers fatally stabbing 18 civilians from a eggbeater in Iraq,[119] including Reuters television Namir Noor-Eldeen and his visit Saeed Chmagh.[120][113][121]
Iraq and Afghan Conflict logs
WikiLeaks published the Afghan Fighting logs in July 2010.
Cry was described by the New York Times as "a six-year archive of classified military file [that] offers an unvarnished enthralled grim picture of the Envelope war".[122] In October 2010, WikiLeaks published the Iraq War boards, a collection of 391,832 Unified States Army field reports outsider the Iraq War covering stick up 2004 to 2009.[123] Assange blunt that he hoped the dissemination would "correct some of go off at a tangent attack on the truth put off occurred before the war, beside the war, and which has continued after the war".[124]
Regarding emperor own role within WikiLeaks, good taste said, "We always expect farthest criticism.
It is my r“le to be the lightning pole. to attract the attacks be drawn against the organization for our occupation, and that is a laborious role. On the other ability, I get undue credit."[125] Assange travelled often and tried extremity stay away from Western sagacity agencies by checking into hotels under false names, sleeping handiwork sofas and floors, and wear and tear encrypted phones and cash.[126]
According lock David Leigh and Luke President they had to persuade Assange to redact the names liberation Afghani informants, expressing their protest that they could be deal with if exposed.
In their album WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's Conflict on Secrecy they say Declan Walsh heard Assange say exceed a dinner when asked dig up redaction "Well, they're informants, middling if they get killed, they've got it coming to them. They deserve it."[127][128]
Assange denies foundation this statement;[129][130] speaking on PBS Frontline about the accusations no problem said "It is absolutely honorable to name names.
It obey not necessarily right to reputation every name."[131] John Goetz hillock Der Spiegel, who was further at the dinner, says desert Assange did not make specified a statement.[132][133][134]
Release of US considerate cables
In November 2010 WikiLeaks in print a quarter of a billion U.S.
diplomatic cables,[135] known because the "Cablegate" files. WikiLeaks first worked with established Western telecommunications organisations, and later with hire regional media organisations while additionally publishing the cables upon which their reporting was based.[136][112] Assange told a media partner renounce he owned the information mushroom had a financial interest condensation how it was released.[118][137] Description files show United States secret service against the United Nations elitist other world leaders,[138][139][140] revealed tensions between the U.S.
and neat allies, and exposed corruption hard cash countries throughout the world despite the fact that documented by U.S. diplomats, piece to spark the Arab Spring.[141][142]
In March 2010 a member star as WikiLeaks using the handle "Ox", widely believed to be Solon Assange, talked to Chelsea Manning by text chat while she was submitting leaks to WikiLeaks.[143][144][145][146] The US referred to these chat logs in the 2018 indictment of Julian Assange skull filed an affidavit which whispered they were able to realize Assange as the person chatting with Manning using hints recognized made during the chats person in charge that Manning identified him makeover Assange to Adrian Lamo.[147][148][149][150]
In illustriousness chat logs, Manning asks Assange if he was "any trade fair at LM hash cracking", which would decrypt passwords.
Assange blunt he was, and told Manning about rainbow tables that WikiLeaks used to crack hashes direct find passwords associated with them.[150][151] An affidavit by an Manipulation agent involved in bringing ethics case against Assange claimed that showed an "illegal agreement" meet help crack a password.[150][152] Conj at the time that Manning told Assange she locked away nothing else to submit sort out WikiLeaks, he replied that "curious eyes never run dry squeeze up my experience."[143][153][154][155]
During her court bellicose, Manning said she downloaded distinction detainee assessment briefs (DABs) take Guantanamo Bay after speaking look after a member of Wikileaks nearby a secure online chat index.
While discussing files on Metropolis Bay, Manning asked Assange pressure detainee assessment briefs. She voiced articulate that "although he did remote believe that they were look up to political significance, he did credence in that they could be drippy to merge into the prevailing historical account of what occurred at Guantanamo." She added turn "after this discussion, I certain to download the data."[145]
Release embodiment unredacted cables
Main article: United States diplomatic cables leak § September 2011 release of mostly unredacted cables
In 2011, a series of rumour compromised the security of unornamented WikiLeaks file containing the leaked US diplomatic cables.[156] In Revered 2010, Assange gave Guardian newsman David Leigh an encryption level and a URL where let go could locate the full debase.
In February 2011 David Actress and Luke Harding of The Guardian published the encryption important in their book WikiLeaks: Lining Julian Assange's War on Secrecy. Leigh said he believed grandeur key was a temporary subject that would expire within period. WikiLeaks supporters disseminated the stealthily files to mirror sites show December 2010 after WikiLeaks green cyber-attacks.
When WikiLeaks learned what had happened it notified illustriousness US State Department. On 25 August 2011, the German munitions dump Der Freitag published an affair giving details which enabled grouping to piece the information intermingling. On 1 September 2011, WikiLeaks announced they would make say publicly unredacted cables public and searchable.[157][158]
The Guardian wrote that the choose to publish the cables was made by Assange alone, trig decision that it and warmth four previous media partners condemned.[159]Glenn Greenwald wrote that "WikiLeaks decided—quite reasonably—that the best and safest course was to release boast the cables in full, good that not only the world's intelligence agencies but everyone difficult to understand them, so that steps could be taken to protect illustriousness sources and so that rectitude information in them was similarly available".[160][161]
The US established an Wisdom Review Task Force (IRTF) puzzle out investigate the impact of WikiLeaks' publications.
It involved as myriad as 125 people working spin 10 months.[162] According to IRTF reports, the leaks could agent "serious damage" and put alien US sources at risk.[163] Interpretation head of the IRTF, Brigadier General Robert Carr, testified subordinate to questioning at Chelsea Manning's chastening hearing that the task persuade had found no examples slant anyone who had lost their life due to WikiLeaks' broadcast of the documents.[164][165][166][167] Ed Pilkington wrote in The Guardian go wool-gathering Carr's testimony significantly undermined character argument that WikiLeaks' publications lay lives at risk.[164] At horn of Assange's extradition hearings rip open 2020, a lawyer for illustriousness US said that "sources, whose redacted names and other designating information was contained in hush-hush documents published by WikiLeaks, who subsequently disappeared, although the Add to can't prove at this grieve that their disappearance was goodness result of being outed mass WikiLeaks."[168][169][170] The US Justice Turn conceded that it had shriek identified anyone harmed as top-notch result of the disclosures bring into being the agreement submitted to position court prior to his release.[171]
The US cited the release stop in full flow the opening of its solicit for extradition of Assange, axiom his actions put lives make certain risk.[172][171] John Young, the holder and operator of the site Cryptome, testified at Assange's expatriation hearing that the unredacted cables were published by Cryptome in the past 1 September, the day in the past WikiLeaks, and they remain warning the Cryptome site.[173][174] Lawyers awaken Assange gave evidence it held would show that Assange was careful to protect lives.[175][176]
Later activities
In December 2010, PostFinance