Julian Assange: Wikileaks co-founder arrested in London

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Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange has been arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

 

 

Mr Assange took refuge in the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault case that has since been dropped.

 

 

At Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday he was found guilty of failing to surrender to the court.

 

He also faces US federal conspiracy charges related to one of the largest ever leaks of government secrets.

 

Ecuador’s president said it withdrew his asylum after repeated violations of international conventions.

 

But Wikileaks tweeted that Ecuador had acted illegally in terminating Mr Assange’s political asylum “in violation of international law”.

 

Mr Assange, 47, was initially taken to a central London police station before appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

 

Dressed in a black suit and black polo shirt, he waved to the public gallery and gave a thumbs up. He pleaded “not guilty” to the 2012 charge of failing to surrender to the court.

 

The court heard that during his arrest at the embassy he had to be restrained and shouted: “This is unlawful, I am not leaving.”

 

Finding him guilty, District Judge Michael Snow said Mr Assange’s behaviour was “the behaviour of a narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interest”.

 

 

He sent him to Southwark Crown Court for sentencing. Mr Assange also faces extradition on the US charges and will appear in court via video link on 2 May on that matter.

 

Australian national Mr Assange set up Wikileaks in 2006 with the aim of obtaining and publishing confidential documents and images.

 

The organisation hit the headlines four years later when it released footage of US soldiers killing civilians from a helicopter in Iraq.

 

Former US intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning was arrested in 2010 for disclosing more than 700,000 confidential documents, videos and diplomatic cables to the anti-secrecy website.

 

She said she only did so to spark debates about foreign policy, but US officials said the leak put lives at risk.