Assange was raised in several towns in Australia until his family settled in Melbourne in his mid-teens. He became involved in the hacker community and was convicted for hacking in 1996.[5][6][7] Following the establishment of WikiLeaks, Assange was its editor when it published the Bank Julius Baer documents, footage of the 2008 Tibetan unrest, and a report on political killings in Kenya with The Sunday Times.
On 11 April 2019, Assange's asylum was withdrawn following a series of disputes with Ecuadorian authorities.[15] The police were invited into the embassy and he was arrested.[16] He was found guilty of breaching the United Kingdom Bail Act and sentenced to 50 weeks in prison.[17] The U.S. government unsealed an indictment charging Assange with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion related to the leaks provided by Manning.[18] In May 2019 and June 2020, the U.S. government unsealed new indictments against Assange, charging him with violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and alleging he had conspired with hackers.[19][20][21] Assange was incarcerated in HM Prison Belmarsh in London from April 2019 to June 2024, as the United States government's extradition effort was contested in the British courts.[22][23][24]
In June 2024, Assange agreed a plea deal with the American prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defence documents.[25][26] Under the terms of the deal, U.S. prosecutors sought a sentence that allowed for his immediate release. He was ordered to instruct WikiLeaks to return or destroy unpublished documents and provide an affidavit. Following the hearing Assange departed for Australia and arrived in Canberra on 26 June 2024.[27]