Why is WikiLeaks founder and hacker Julian Assange facing extradition to the US?

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is facing a decisive two-day court case in the United Kingdom that will decide whether he is to be extradited to the United States on spying charges.

The High Court of London is expected to decide by Wednesday on whether it should block the 52year-old’s extradition to the US, where he faces 18 counts of espionage for publishing hundreds of thousands of confidential documents in 2010 related to the US military’s conduct during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

The Australian journalist and ethical hacker has been held at Belmarsh prison in the UK since April 2019.

In light of this significant legal milestone, Euronews Next takes a look back at who Assange is, what exactly he’s accused of, and what could happen next if he loses his last-ditch attempt to stay in the UK.

Assange was known as a skilled Australian hacker under the name Mendax long before he started WikiLeaks. One incident when he was 16 led to the police infiltrating his mother’s home and confiscating all his equipment.

Assange has been linked to several prominent hacks as a member of the group the International Subversives, including the WANK hack at NASA in 1989 and the online takeover of MILNET, an online server used by the American military.

By 1991, Assange was behind bars for the first time after Australian police discovered that he hacked the Melbourne-based master terminal of Nortel, a Canadian telecommunications firm.

Assange was charged with 31 counts of hacking crimes, but eventually struck a plea deal, admitting to 24 of the charges and ultimately walked away with a fine of A$2,100 (around A$5,000 today, or €3,000).

Soon after, Assange founded the activist organisation Parent Inquiry into Child Protection with his mother, a