Spy according to some, freedom of speech fighter according to others. He has been accused of rape in Sweden, threatened with extradition to the USA, and spent seven years confined to Ecuador's embassy.
Here are all the twists and turns surrounding Julian Assange.
2006: Julian Assange, born in 1971 in Australian Townsville, co-founds WikiLeaks.
2010: WikiLeaks publishes hundreds of thousands of secret military and diplomatic documents about, among other things, the USA's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, revealing American war crimes and human rights violations.
Among the organisation's most notable revelations is a secret video recording, filmed by the USA's military, showing an American Apache helicopter attacking and killing at least twelve people, including two Reuters journalists, in Baghdad in 2007.
August-December 2010: Julian Assange is arrested and detained in absentia, suspected of sexual offences against two women during a visit to Sweden. The Australian, who is in the UK, surrenders to British police and is fitted with an electronic tag.
May-June 2012: The UK decides that Julian Assange should be extradited to Sweden. He then barricades himself on Ecuador's embassy in London, where he will spend seven years. During his time at the embassy, he becomes the father of two children.
May 2017: The Swedish investigation against Assange is dropped.
April 2019: The WikiLeaks founder is arrested at Ecuador's embassy by British police. The USA announces that it has a charge of espionage and data intrusion against Assange and requests his immediate extradition.
Assange's lawyers dismiss the American accusations as politically motivated and a threat to press freedom. His supporters see him as a freedom of speech fighter, while critics point out that the extensive publication of secret documents has endangered the USA's security.
May 2019: Assange is sentenced to nearly a year in prison by a court in London for breaching the country's bail regulations. The Swedish investigation is reopened.
November 2019: The Swedish investigation against Julian Assange is dropped again.
2019-2024: A lengthy legal process regarding a possible extradition to the USA continues, with a series of appeals from both sides. Julian Assange is held in a British prison awaiting a decision after a court rules that there is a high risk that he will flee if released.
Several times, doctors warn that Assange's health is so poor that he risks dying in a British prison.
June 2024: Julian Assange is released after admitting to spreading secret information and reaching an agreement with the USA's Justice Department.
Assange is due to appear in court on Wednesday in the Mariana Islands, an American territory in the Pacific Ocean, and is then expected to return to Australia.
