WikiLeaks founder Assange arrested in London, faces US charge

LONDON, Apr 12, 2019, Kyodo. British police arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on Thursday for failing to surrender to the court while on bail, ending a nearly seven-year standoff, reported the Kyodo.

The Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement that they were “invited into the embassy by the ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government’s withdrawal of his asylum” granted in August 2012.

In Washington, the U.S. Justice Department accused Assange of conspiring with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to break into a government computer network to steal and publish huge troves of classified documents.

The charge was announced after Assange was taken into custody. The 47-year-old Assange could be extradited to the United States in the near future at Washington’s request.

Assange was arrested in London in December 2010 for alleged sexual assault in Sweden and was released on bail later that month. He claimed sanctuary at the Ecuadorian embassy in the British capital in June 2012.

The United States has wanted his extradition and arrest in connection with WikiLeaks’ publication of tens of thousands of leaked classified U.S. documents.

The police said Assange was “further arrested” at a central London police station on behalf of the U.S. authorities.

In 2016, WikiLeaks disclosed a massive amount of emails from Democratic National Committee staff members during the U.S. presidential primary.

Ecuador granted asylum to Assange, claiming his human rights might be violated if he was extradited.

In December, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno said Assange repeatedly violated the terms of his asylum in the embassy and urged him to leave the embassy.