They finally caught him. The mercurial silver fox, tall, strong, defiant, who came out of nowhere to warn us of the evil that surrounds us. If every journalist in the world devoted his life to revealing the truth, what a gracious world that would be. Despite his public persona we know little about Julian Assange, the man who defied the world, with his WikiLeaks. There was something mysterious and plaintive in his speech. Was it as simple as it seemed, revealing secret and classified documents for the sake of information, transparency, freedom, or was it something more sinister, more fearful that kept creeping in his brains and blood, cruel and detestable like a poison that would finally eradicate him? He spoke with soft tones of dangers, conspiracies, lies and crimes, but it was in his eyes, cold, keen and harsh, that we felt his outrage at governments, wars and torture. What was he up to? An act of revenge at destiny that brought him into this world with a shade of hopelessness, with only one parent? Or was it the fact that he lived in 37 towns and attended 40 schools before he was 20? With Hollywood so short of ideas, a look at Assange's childhood would surpass any drama they can dream up. Assange was born Julian Paul Hawkins on 3 July 1971, in Townsville, Queensland, to Christine Hawkins and John Shipton. But John and Christine had separated long before the birth. There was only Christine to care for him until a year later when she remarried. Richard Brett Assange was an actor and together with Christine they ran a theatre company, moving around constantly. The surname Assange was a Westernisation of the Chinese name Au Sang, a Taiwanese who lived on Thursday Island where the family lived from time to time. The couple was separated after seven years of marriage but Julian who was adopted by Assange always considered him his father. Christine became involved with Leif Hamilton and another son was born before the couple broke up. It is easy to deduce that Julian, just a child, lived a nomadic life, not knowing where or to whom he belonged. In his mid-teens he settled with his mother and half-bother in Melbourne, Victoria. He attended many schools, studying programming Mathematics at Queensland University and the University of Melbourne. At 18 he married Teresa, had a son Daniel Assange and became his caregiver for much of his life. It is rumoured that he fathered four children, with the youngest in France. The hacking started under the name Mendax (Latin for liar). He was discovered hacking a Canadian Company, was arrested by Australian Federal Police and charged with 31 counts of hacking and related crimes in 1994, but the resilient Julian pleaded guilty to 25 counts, paid a fine and was released on “good behaviour bond”. Absence of malicious, mercenary intent and his disrupted childhood were cited to justify the lenient penalty. Julian Assange never stopped hacking. He exposed documents, videos, manuscripts, hereto forbidden to the public. He was convinced he was performing his duty as a conscientious, bold journalist exposing the truth. He received information from every corner, established WikiLeaks in 2006, travelled to Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. He was proud of his WikiLeaks; described it as a “grand library of the world's most persecuted documents”. He opened Pandora's Box. How he unravelled the cryptic, classified, confidential, mysterious, enigmatic, conspiratorial material forbidden to all eyes but a select few is a miracle. In 2010 he visited Sweden and was accused of sexual assault by two women. He was questioned. The case was initially closed, and he was granted permission to leave. A new female prosecutor re-opened the case; Assange was happy to submit answers from Britain. Swedish law did not admit that and the statue of limitations expires in 2020. Opinions at the time were divided. He broke no laws. His admirers outnumbered his detractors. Le Monde voted him Personality of the Year so did Time magazine. He signed a deal for an autobiography for $1.3million. Assange was a rock star. Among his numerous awards was his 2015 Gold Medal for Peace with Justice the most prestigious, awarded only to three people before him: Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama and Daisaha Okeda (Buddhist spiritual leader), from the Sydney Peace Foundation. Wikileaks became a household name. Our insatiable curiosity swallowed the “Collateral Murder” video which showed US soldiers totally shooting 18 people from a helicopter in Iraq. To add insult to injury “The Afghanistan War Logs” and “The Iraqi War Logs” followed. He even analysed Kissinger's cables held at the US National Archives. How rich is that? It is little wonder that the US wants his hide and the Brits will give it to them as the new Ecuadorean ambassador gave him to the British Police. It was a shabby, sorry sight as they dragged the White Fox to a fate unknown. He resisted with all his might, but regained his composure and displayed a peace sign from the car window. What exactly is Assange guilty of? Exposing the abuse of technology by governments to spy on citizens, the publication of sensitive documents, bringing important information to the public, secrets of US army activities at Guantanamo Bay, is this the reason why the US wants him locked up? As a kid he always fought for the underdog. As an adult he did that too. “Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God.” Karl Barth (1886-1968)
