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Fame, infamy and incarceration: The Julian Assange story
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was removed yesterday from the Ecuadorian embassy in London after having his asylum revoked; he was then immediately arrested. Talk of extradition to the US began immediately. But if you haven't been paying extremely close attention over the last decade or so, you might not quite recall exactly how Assange ended up exiled in the embassy in the first place. It's a long and twisting tail, linked close to the rise and notoriety of WikiLeaks itself. And in many ways Assange's legal troubles are just getting started now that he's been arrested and the US has formally charged him with crimes. Catch up on the major steps that led Assange to seek refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy back in 2012 -- as well as what's happened that caused him to get thrown out and arrested. If there's one thing to be learned from Assange's history, it's that he will almost certainly not be going down without a long and protracted legal battle.
UK police pull Assange embassy guard after wasting millions waiting
For the past three years, London's Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has maintained a 24/7 presence outside the Ecuadorean embassy in an attempt to arrest Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange for questioning over sexual assault charges. It's been a costly operation: the force admits it's already spent more than £9 million (over £10,500 a day) in the hope that the controversial privacy activist will give himself up. Now, it appears, the Met has had enough -- it's removed police guards from the embassy altogether.
Monitoring Julian Assange has cost the UK government up to £10 million
It's easy to forget that Julian Assange is still cooped up inside London's Ecuadorian embassy. The WikiLeaks founder entered the building back in June 2012 to escape extradition and ever since, Metropolitan Police officers have been stationed outside, waiting patiently just in case he ever decides to leave. It might not sound like the most costly operation, but over the years it's racked up quite a bill for the UK government. Earlier this month the Met revealed that policing the embassy had cost an estimated £9 million up until October last year. That equates to roughly £10,500 per day --- and if you project that forward, it means the entire affair has now crossed the £10 million mark. Of course, this is all merely an approximation, but it further highlights the costs involved in the Assange affair. Last summer, the man himself revealed that he would be leaving the embassy "soon," but since then there's been no sign of his imminent departure. Unless his health or legal circumstances change, the bill for the UK government is only going to increase.
Wikileaks announces Julian Assange TV show, world governments fire up their DVRs
Ready or not, Julian Assange is heading toward a TV set near you. Wikileaks announced this week that its controversy-embroiled founder will be getting his own TV show, in which he'll be interviewing "key political players, thinkers and revolutionaries." Information on the series is light at present -- the largely unknown Quick Roll Productions will apparently play a role in its creation. The show is set to begin airing in the middle of March and will run as ten 30 minute weekly episodes. Assange for one, clearly has grand ambitions for the series, stating that it "will explore the possibilities for our future in conversations with those who are shaping it. Are we heading towards utopia, or dystopia and how we can set our paths?" Check out a preview of Dancing with the Leaks after the jump.
