Julian Assange left the Ecuadorian embassy on Thursday after seven years. He was arrested and taken to a magistrates court to face a charge of failing to surrender to the courts which he denied but was found guilty of. He was also arrested on a US extradition warrant.

Who is Julian Assange?

Assange is a 47-year-old Australian who founded WikiLeaks, a non-profit organisation that publishes leaked materials from a wide range of sources.

Assange rose to prominence in 2010 when WikiLeaks published a series of leaks by Chelsea Manning, a former US Army soldier.

In November that year, WikiLeaks released what would come to be known as Cablegate, a dump of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables (some of which were published in the Guardian and elsewhere). Dated between December 1966 and February 2010, the cables contain diplomatic analysis from world leaders, and the diplomats’ assessment of host countries and their officials.

The US government launched a criminal investigation into the leaks. Manning was ultimately convicted by court martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage Act and other offences over the leaks.

Why was Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy?

An arrest warrant for Assange was issued in August 2010 for two separate sexual assault allegations in Sweden. Police questioned him in Stockholm, where he denied the allegations.

After returning to the UK, he feared that if he were extradited to Sweden he might be extradited on to the US, where he believed he could face charges over WikiLeaks’ publication of the secret US government files.

In December 2010 he appeared at an extradition hearing in the UK, where he was granted bail. Following a legal battle, the courts ruled Assange should be extradited to Sweden. The WikiLeaks founder entered the Ecuadorian embassy in August 2012. He was granted political asylum and remained there until his arrest.

In May 2017, Swedish authorities dropped their investigations. However, the British police warrant for his arrest for skipping bail still remained. Lawyers for Assange failed in January 2018 to have the warrant torn up, arguing it had “lost its purpose and its function”.

Why did he leave the embassy?

It appears that following discussions with the UK and Ecuadorian government, the Ecuadorians decided to end Assange’s claim to asylum.

Commenting on Assange’s exit from the embassy, the UK Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan said: “Today’s events follow extensive dialogue between our two countries.”

There have been increasing tensions between Assange and the Ecuadorian government following a change in administration in Ecuador in 2017.

Why do the Americans want him?

Upon his departure from the Ecuadorian embassy, Scotland Yard confirmed that Assange had been arrested on behalf of the US after receiving a request for his extradition as well as for the bail offence.

Later, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) published details of the charge faced by Assange over the Manning episode – namely conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, for which, if convicted, he would face a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

What will happen next?

Assange appeared in court on Thursday and denied the charge of failing to surrender to the court but was found guilty by the district judge, who deferred his sentencing to a later date at crown court. He could face a sentence of up to 12 months in prison.

He will next appear at Westminster magistrates court on 2 May by prison video-link in relation to the extradition case, although this is likely to be a preliminary hearing.

There will be a substantial extradition hearing, during which Assange and his lawyers will be able to present their argument against his transferral to the US.

Can Assange appeal against an extradition decision?

Yes, and there are many levels of appeal he can pass through before a final decision is made. In fact, this is exactly what happened to the request from Sweden. Assange challenged the decision to extradite him to Sweden all the way up to the supreme court, the highest court of appeal for civil cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

He can appeal against a judge’s decision to refer an approved extradition request back to the home secretary and he can also appeal against a decision by the home secretary himself to execute that approved order.

To give an idea of timescale, Assange presented himself to the Metropolitan police on the Swedish extradition request on 7 December 2010 and the supreme court hearing was held on 1 and 2 February 2012.

Can Julian Assange be charged with additional offences once he has been extradited to the United States?

Normal practice is that anyone extradited can only be prosecuted in the country that sought them for the offences specified on the extradition indictment. That restriction is known as the rule of specialty.

There are two possible but difficult-to-use exemptions. The first is that if it could be argued new information had come to light since his extradition, extra charges could conceivably be brought. “That almost never happens,” says Nick Vamos, the former head of extradition at the Crown Prosecution Service who is a partner at the London law firm Peters and Peters. “American prosecutors would also have to seek the consent of the UK to bring in further charges.”

The second exemption covers what happens after someone has been extradited, convicted and then chooses to remain in the country. Essentially the extraditing country has to allow the prisoner time to run away after they have served their sentence.

“After a short period, however, usually two months,” Vamos explained, “anyone who remained in the same country would be deemed to be treated like a local citizen and could be charged for other offences”.

Neither conditions are likely to be met in Assange’s case.

“The US has only put one charge on the indictment and it carries the maximum term of five years in prison. Assange has the opportunity to assent to it. It’s relatively light sentence by US standards.”

What about the investigation in Sweden?

One of the charges faced by Assange in Sweden effectively expired in 2015 after it crossed the statute of limitations for that offence.

But the allegation of rape was dropped in May 2017 for logistical reasons. Sweden’s director of public prosecutions, Marianne Ny, said at the time: “In order to proceed with the case, Julian Assange would have to be formally notified of the criminal suspicions against him. We cannot expect to receive assistance from Ecuador regarding this. Therefore the investigation is discontinued.”

But she added: “If he, at a later date, makes himself available, I will be able to decide to resume the investigation immediately.”

Swedish prosecutors have said they are considering Thursday’s events, while the alleged victim in the case has urged them to reopen the case. If they do so it is unclear which charge would take precedence.