Assange’s Long Standoff Ends With U.K. Arrest, U.S. Hack Charges

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was expelled from his hideout in Ecuador’s embassy in London and charged in the U.S. with conspiracy, ending his seven-year standoff with British authorities and launching what could be a protracted battle to bring him to the U.S. for trial.

Julian Assange on April 11.

Photographer: Jack Taylor/Getty Images

The 47-year-old appeared handcuffed and disheveled in a London court, where prosecutors said he tried to resist what he called an illegal arrest. In a day of rapid-fire developments, the U.S. unsealed a year-old indictment accusing Assange of a hacking conspiracy with ex-U.S. Army analyst Chelsea Manning to disclose classified government material.

That March 2018 ...