2:26 PM 04/11/2019
Virginia Kruta | Associate Editor

The U.S. Department of Justice filed charges against Australian-born WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Thursday, but the United States is not the only country with an ax to grind.

Sweden, Ecuador, the U.K. and the United States each have a bone to pick with the 47-year-old Assange, all for different reasons.
Sweden

Two Swedish women, referred to only as Miss A. and Miss W., accused Assange of sexual assaults that stemmed from separate consensual encounters in 2010 that the women say became nonconsensual when he allegedly refused to wear a condom.

By the time Swedish authorities called Assange for questioning, he had already flown to the U.K. In 2011, a British court ruled in favor of his extradition. Assange’s attorneys fought the extradition, but ultimately lost their appeal in 2012.

Assange requested asylum in central London’s Ecuadorian Embassy, where he has been living in self-imposed exile ever since, even after Sweden dropped the case against him in 2017.

According to witnesses, however, it wasn’t the sexual assault charge Assange truly feared. Rather, he was convinced that if he went to Sweden to face that charge, the United States would extradite him on espionage charges.

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 05: Protesters demonstrate in support of Julian Assange outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in South Kensington on April 5, 2019 in London, England. Wikileaks said via their Twitter account on Thursday that the organization's founder Julian Assange, who has been holed up in the embassy since 2012, will be expelled from there within "hours to days." (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

The Swedish Prosecution Authority noted following Assange’s arrest Thursday that the statute of limitations on the alleged crimes had not yet expired, hinting that the case against him could still be reopened.

United Kingdom

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