The conspiracy theory that Julian Assange is dead appeared to be put to rest this weekend when the WikiLeaks founder made his first appearance in weeks, speaking with an interviewer for a conference in Beirut and talking about some current events.
The appearance gave the "proof of life" that many conspiracy theorists had been requesting from WikiLeaks in recent weeks as the rumors of his death grew. Those who subscribe to this theory believe that Assange had gone missing after a series of strange events around the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he has been living, including an internet outage and reports of armed men surrounding the building in November.
The theories of Julian Assange's death grew as the WikiLeaks founder --- cut off from the internet for many weeks --- remained holed up and did not make any live appearances.
That ended early on Saturday, when Assange appeared at the fifth annual Free Connected Minds FCM conference, which was held in Beirut. Assange appeared via telephone, and one attendee explained that he gave the long-awaited "proof of life" by making reference to an event that took place this weekend.
"The moderator started by telling him to speak about Castro's death so people know it's not pre-recorded," wrote one Reddit user who attended the conference.
