Julian Assange timeline: A criminal or a hero?
Al Jazeera
The WikiLeaks founder is free after years-long legal battle that has stirred debate around the world on press freedom.
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been set free after fighting a long-running legal battle against extradition to the United States, where he could have been jailed for life on espionage charges.
Here are some key events and details in his life to date:
July 1971 – Assange is born in Townsville, Australia, to parents involved in theatre. As a teenager, he gains a reputation as a computer programmer.
1995 – Assange is fined for computer hacking but avoids prison on condition he does not offend again.
2006 – Founds WikiLeaks, creating an internet-based “dead letter drop” for leakers of classified or sensitive information.
