Julian Assange - After a 14-year battle against extradition

JULIAN ASSANGE IS FREE after more than a decade spent holed up in a London embassy, then in British custody, largely to avoid extradition to the U.S. On June 26, the WikiLeaks founder appeared in a federal court in Saipan, a U.S. territory in the Pacific, following a plea deal with American prosecutors.

- ANNA GORDON

Assange pleaded guilty to a felony for conspiring to obtain and disclose classified national-defense information, in violation of the Espionage Act. In return, he was allowed to return to his native Australia without serving any more prison time. "I hope you will start your new life in a positive manner," U.S. District Chief Judge Ramona Manglona told Assange.

U.S. authorities had pursued Assange since WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of unredacted classified U.S. government documents and videos, most about the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.