As Julian Assange prepares to leave his hideaway, we recall the top Wikileaks releases on climate change

Julian Assange was behind a mass release of diplomatic messages (Pic: Wikimedia Commons/Espen Moe)

By Megan Darby

Julian Assange plans to leave the Ecuadorean embassy in London soon, he said at a press conference on Monday.

The Wikileaks founder has spent two years holed up in the embassy, trying to find a diplomatic solution to his tangle of legal problems.

Assange faces an arrest warrant for sexual assault charges in Sweden. He denies the allegations and has expressed fears that if he goes to Sweden, he will be extradited to the US over his leadership of Wikileaks.

That mass leak of diplomatic documents yielded some interesting information. But it angered governments around the world who wanted to keep their messages secret and said releasing such sensitive information could harm national security.

As speculation swirls around Assanges next steps, here are five things Wikileaks taught us about the failed 2009 Copenhagen climate talks.

1 France argued against a legally binding international treaty.

French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo told the Ambassador that the key to advancing climate negotiations is to drop the notion of a legally binding treaty in favour of a system of national commitments. He also argued that it would be up to a small group of eight or ten heads of state, and their sherpas, to negotiate implementation of the Copenhagen Accord. US Embassy in Paris, 17 February 2010

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Five things Wikileaks taught us about climate talks

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has spent over two years inside Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, said Monday he planned to leave the building "soon," but his spokesman said that could only happen if Britain let him.

Britain has repeatedly said it won't back down, that its laws must be followed, and that Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face allegations of sexual assault and rape, which he denies. Assange would be arrested if he exited the building because he has breached his British bail terms.

Assange's comments briefly raised the possibility of him leaving the embassy, somewhere he has been holed up since June 2012. But his spokesman later told reporters he could only do so if the British government "calls off the siege outside." Assange had no intention of handing himself over to the police, the spokesman said.

The 43-year-old Australian says he fears that if Britain extradited him to Sweden he would then be extradited to the United States, where he could be tried for one of the largest information leaks in U.S. history.

"I am leaving the embassy soon ... but perhaps not for the reasons that Murdoch press and Sky news are saying at the moment," Assange told reporters at the embassy in central London, before refusing to clarify his comments.

Britain's Sky News, part owned by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox, had earlier reported that Assange was considering leaving the embassy due to deteriorating health.

Reuters

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WikiLeaks founder Assange hopes to leave London embassy 'soon'

Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said he is planning to leave the Ecuadorian embassy soon, potentially bringing to an end over two years of self-imposed asylum in London. Bloombergs Caroline Hyde reports on Bloomberg Surveillance. (Source: Bloomberg)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said he is planning to leave the Ecuadorian embassy soon, potentially bringing to an end over two years of self-imposed asylum in London.

Speaking at a press conference inside the Mayfair embassy today, Assange, 43, who risks arrest as soon as he steps outside the building, said the ordeal has caused him heart and lung problems and 7 million pounds ($11.7 million) in legal costs.

The embassy has no outside areas, no sunlight, Assange told reporters in the briefing broadcast live on the Internet. Its an environment in which any healthy person would find themselves soon enough with certain difficulties they would have to manage.

Assange sought refuge with Ecuador in June 2012, after exhausting options in U.K. courts to avoid extradition to face questioning on allegations of rape and sexual molestation during a 2010 visit to Sweden. The Australian national, who says hes innocent and hasnt been charged with a crime, has refused to return to the Nordic country, citing risks that he will be extradited to the U.S. over the release of secret documents by WikiLeaks.

Assange is accused in Sweden of failing to use a condom with one woman and having sex with another while she was asleep. The women, both supporters of WikiLeaks, let him stay at their homes during a speaking tour in 2010.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is accused in Sweden of failing to use a condom with one woman and having sex with another while she was asleep. Close

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is accused in Sweden of failing to use a condom with one woman and having sex with another while she was asleep.

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WikiLeaks Founder Assange Plans to Leave Embassy ‘Soon’

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cites health reasons for his decision to "soon" leave the Ecuadoran embassy in London where he's spent the last two years. (Reuters)

LONDON WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Monday he would soon be leaving the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, where he took refuge more than two years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden to face questioning for alleged sexual assaults.

But in a lengthy statement to reporters at the embassy, Assange did not give any indication of the exact timing or circumstances of his exit. And a WikiLeaks spokesman, Kristinn Hrafnsson, later clarified that Assanges comments had been a declaration of hope rather than a declaration that he would be walking out of the embassy.

Hrafnsson said Assange would leave when British authorities grant him safe passage to the airport and to Ecuador, something the government here has repeatedly said it is unwilling to do.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman, speaking under the customary terms of anonymity, reiterated that stance Monday, saying, We are clear that our laws must be followed and that Mr. Assange should be extradited to Sweden.

By speaking to the media Monday, Assange may have been hoping to gain leverage in negotiations that have been locked in a stalemate for two years. Assange cited recent changes to British law that could protect him from extradition because charges in Sweden have not yet been filed. But a Home Office spokeswoman said that the legal changes were not retroactive and that Assange had exhausted all appeal avenues.

British press reports have suggested in recent days that Assange is in poor health and needs urgent medical treatment for heart and lung conditions. Assange, who appeared subdued and halting in his statement alongside the Ecuadoran foreign minister, acknowledged that two years in the embassy, without access to outdoor spaces or exposure to sunlight, had caused certain difficulties.

Since June 2012, Assange has been holed up in a small embassy apartment, vowing to defy what he describes as an international effort to persecute him for his role in releasing a vast trove of classified U.S. government documents. Although Assange has been granted asylum by Ecuador, British police guard the embassy round the clock and say he will be arrested if he leaves the embassy grounds.

Assange has long been sought in Sweden for questioning based on two womens allegations of sexual assault. The 43-year-old Australian said Monday he believes that Sweden intends to send him on to the United States, where the Justice Department has been investigating his role in leaking the government documents, many of which relate to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Pfc. Bradley Manning, a former army intelligence analyst, was sentenced by a U.S. military judge to 35 years in prison last year for providing the documents to WikiLeaks. The day after sentencing, Manning adopted the name Chelsea Manning and announced that he wanted to be identified as a woman.

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he will leave Ecuadoran Embassy ‘soon’

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (right) said he'll leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, at a news conference with Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino. Assange has been holed up at the embassy for two years. John Stillwell/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (right) said he'll leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, at a news conference with Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino. Assange has been holed up at the embassy for two years.

Citing health concerns, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he'll leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he has lived in diplomatic asylum for more than two years. Assange didn't name a date for his exit, which will seemingly come without a deal over potential criminal charges against him.

After calling a news conference, Assange, 43, said that the isolation of living in Ecuador's embassy since June of 2012 has taken a toll, mentioning problems with his heart and lungs:

"As you can imagine, being detained in various ways in this country without charge for four years and in this embassy for two years, which has no outside area, therefore no sunlight it's an environment in which any healthy person would find themselves soon enough with certain difficulties."

Assange faces U.S. accusations that his anti-secrecy campaign damaged its national security, as well as allegations in Sweden of rape and sexual assault. And while Assange has lived in seclusion recently, WikiLeaks played a central role in helping former NSA contract worker Edward Snowden gain asylum in Russia to escape U.S. espionage charges.

NPR's Ari Shapiro reports on today's news conference, for Morning Edition:

"The entire event had a pretty defensive tone. Assange laid out his rebuttal to the allegations against him, both in the U.S. and in Sweden. He said he has not been officially, publicly charged with any crimes.

"But British officials always said that if he set foot outside the embassy, he'd be arrested immediately which would mean deportation to either Sweden or the U.S. to face trial.

"Assange argued that his persecution is a threat to journalists everywhere. In terms of tone, he spoke slowly, often stopping and restarting sentences."

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WikiLeaks' Assange Says He'll Leave Embassy In London