WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange Arrested in London
Written by SOURCE on April 11, 2019
Julian Assange has been arrested in London.
The WikiLeaks co-founder was taken into custody at the Ecuadorian embassy in London Thursday, per BBC News. Assange had been at the embassy for the past seven years, utilizing asylum in an alleged effort to avoid extradition to Sweden in connection with a sexual assault case that’s since been dropped.
After the Ecuadorian government withdrew Assange’s asylum, Scotland Yard authorities were “invited into the embassy” by the ambassador.
Home Secretary of the U.K. Sajid Javid said in a statement that Assange would be “rightly facing justice” after the arrest. “No one is above the law,” Javid said. The asylum status, according to comments from Ecuador’s president Lenín Moreno cited by Guardian, was revoked due to “repeated violations” by Assange.
A press release from London’s Metropolitan Police Service added that Assange had been “further arrested on behalf of the United States authorities” following his arrival at a central London police station. “This is an extradition warrant under Section 73 of the Extradition Act,” police said, noting that Assange was slated to appear in court later Thursday. The original arrest at the embassy was reported as being carried out on a June 2012 warrant for failing to surrender to the court.
At one point during Assange’s embassy stay, supporter Pamela Anderson publicly requested the assistance of Kanye West. Speaking on Assange’s arrest Thursday, Anderson told the U.K. in a tweet from her Pamela Anderson Foundation account, “You are America’s bitch.” Other supporters have also spoken out against the arrest.
A number of tweets from the official WikiLeaks account also condemned the arrest:
