American officials argued that his actions endangered national security and the lives of US personnel working overseas, but press freedom campaigners said the WikiLeaks documents had exposed US government wrongdoing and that he should be released.
The US charges, which were brought against Mr Assange under Donald Trump’s presidency, could have resulted in a custodial sentence of 175 years.
However, the case was complicated by the fact that Mr Assange lived at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, with political asylum status, for seven years from 2012 to 2019.
The Ecuadorian government refused British police access to Mr Assange, arguing that any officer who entered the building to arrest him would be in breach of the Vienna Convention on diplomacy.
The relationship between Mr Assange and the embassy eventually broke down, and he left in April 2019 to be arrested by British police on charges of breaching his bail conditions from an earlier case in Sweden, and on behalf of the US authorities.
He was sent to HMP Belmarsh, in southeast London, where his planned extradition was further delayed by a series of legal challenges.
Mr Assange’s legal team brought a variety of appeals against the extradition order, including that would likely face the death penalty if convicted in the US, in what he argued would amount to a breach of his human rights.
In April, Joe Biden’s administration provided “binding assurances” to the UK government that Mr Assange would not face the death penalty if he stood trial.
However, the US Justice Department has soured on the idea of bringing espionage charges against Mr Assange in recent months.
Both Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, and the Australian parliament have urged Mr Biden to construct a plea deal that would allow Mr Assange to return home. The US president said earlier this year that he was “considering” that deal.
Last month, Mr Assange fought off the threat of an immediate extradition to the US while his lawyers worked on an agreement with the American authorities.
His plea will be heard on Wednesday at 9am local time (Tuesday 11pm, GMT) on the the US-controlled Northern Mariana Islands. The case is being heard outside of the continental United States because of Mr Assange’s opposition to travelling there.
Mr Assange has been married to Stella Assange, a former lawyer on his case, since 2015. In 2021, he had a small stroke while in prison.