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- UK police arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday after Ecuador rescinded his asylum, bringing an end to a nearly seven-year stay in the embassy.
- During his stay he dressed his cat in bow ties, befriended Pamela Anderson and Jesse Jackson, and worked out with soccer legend Eric Cantona.
- Here’s a timeline of how Assange filled his time, permitted to roam around just 330-square-feet of space in London.
On Wednesday May 30, 2012 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange lost an extradition case to Sweden, where he had been accused of rape.
Facing deportation to Sweden, which he feared would lead him to be extradited to the US on charges of leaking government documents, Assange walked up to the front door of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on June 19, 2012, and politely asked for political asylum.
From that day until his surprise arrest in London on Thursday, he had not left the 330-square-feet rooms he called his home for nearly seven years.
From entertaining fashion designer Vivienne Westwood on a monthly basis, to binge watching "The West Wing," here’s what he got up to.
June 19, 2012: Julian Assange is admitted to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, after ringing the bell and asking for asylum.
Flickr/bbwbryant
Assange was designated 330 square-feet to make a home in by the Ambassador.
nick.hider via flickr
He had access to his own "private quarter" and "a few rooms that he shares with Ecuadorian staff," he told the New Yorker in an August 2017 profile.
One of Assange’s friends told the interviewer: "It’s like living in a space shuttle."
July 2012: British film-maker Ken Loach, hearing of Assange’s limited space, sends him a treadmill for him to pass the time on.
BAFTAGuru/YouTube
"The machine has now been delivered and Assange is working up a sweat," Rebecca O’Brien, (Loach’s producer on many films) told The Times.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- US asks to extradite Julian Assange over leaked state secrets after he was arrested and forcibly removed from Ecuador’s London embassy
- Julian Assange reportedly gave away his cat five months ago so it wouldn’t be trapped in the Ecuadorian embassy with him any more
- The weirdest anecdote about Julian Assange claims that he doesn’t like cutlery and eats hot food like jam pudding with his hands
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Bill Bostock)