Edward Snowden: Julian Assange arrest is a ‘dark moment …

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American whistle-blower Edward Snowden has described Julian Assanges arrest at the Ecuadorian Embassy as a dark moment for press freedom.

Mr Snowden, a former CIA employee who fled the US after leaking top-secret National Security Agency (NSA) documents, took to Twitter shortly after Assange was dragged out of the embassyby police.

Images of Ecuador's ambassador inviting the UK's secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of--like it or not--award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books, he wrote.

Assange'scritics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom.

The post was retweeted over 5,600 times within an hour of publication.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested at Ecuadorian embassy

The 35-year-old also used the social media platform to alert journalists to important background material, posting a screenshot of a statement from the UN Human Rights High Commissioner.

Julian Assange's cat looks on from the embassy (Alex Lentati)

The United Nations formally ruled his detention to be arbitrary, a violation of human rights. They have repeatedly issued statements calling for him to walk free-- including very recently, Mr Snowden added.

Mr Snowden, who now lives in an undisclosed part of Moscow, is president of the Freedom of Press Foundation - an organisation that claims to defend and supportcutting-edge transparency journalism in the face of adversity.

Assange was arrested on Thursday, April 11after spending seven years inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

He sought asylum at the embassy in 2012 to escape extradition to the US for questioning, after publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables through WikiLeaks.

He was seized by police after Ecuador abruptly withdrew asylum from him. He was arrested for failing to surrender to the court and was taken in custody to a central London police station this morning.

Scotland Yard later issued a statement saying he had been further arrested on behalf of US authorities on arrival at the police station.

A spokesman said: "This is an extradition warrant under Section 73 of the Extradition Act. He will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court as soon as possible."

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