August 2010: An arrest warrant is issued for Julian Assange after his trip to Sweden.
Two allegations – rape and molestation – are made against him. Assange denies both.
February 2011: Judge rules WikiLeaks founder should be extradited to Sweden to face charges.
November 2011: Assange fails in his appeal to the High Court against the decision to extradite him .
June 19, 2012: Seeks political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
August 16, 2012: Ecuador grants Assange political asylum.
August 19, 2012: Assange makes his first public appearance in two months from the balcony of the Embassy.
He make a speech, calling for the government to ‘drop the witch-hunt against WikiLeaks.
June 2013: After a year at the Embassy, Assange fears there are fresh moves being put in place to extradite him.
July 2014: Assange, 46, loses his appeal to have the Sweden arrest warrant thrown out.
December 2014: Appears on the balcony of the Embassy again to greet Noam Chomsky and John Cusack.
August 13, 2015: Swedish prosecutors drop some of the allegations against Julian Assange.
The rape allegations case remains open and active.
August 21, 2015: Civil rights campaigner Jesse Jackson visits the Embassy.
October 12, 2015: Metropolitan Police end the 24-hour guard at the Embassy.
November 14, 2016: Assange is questioned again over the sex crime allegations.
January 17, 2017: Barack Obama, in one of his final acts as President of the US, decides to free whistleblower Chelsea Manning.
This sparks speculation that Assange is about to end his self-imposed exile.
March 9, 2017: Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage is spotted leaving the Embassy.
April 21, 2017: US Attorney General states that Assange’s arrest is now a US ‘priority’.
May 19, 2017: Swedish prosecutors announce the investigations have been discontinued.
June 19, 2017: Assange cancels a ‘special announcement’ he had planned for the fifth anniversary of his stay at the Embassy.
December 21, 2017: Ecuador allegedly issue Assange with a passport.