Julian Assange Arrested in London as U.S. Unseals Hacking …

If Mr. Assange is convicted on the conspiracy to hack offense alone, he could face up to five years in prison. The government could later seek to charge him with additional offenses, but because of extradition practices, any such superseding indictment would most likely need to come soon, before Britain formally decides whether to transfer custody of him.

Until recently, Mr. Assanges Ecuadorean citizenship, granted in 2017, presented a hurdle in President Lenn Morenos efforts to remove him from the embassy. Ecuadors Constitution limits the governments ability to turn over citizens to a foreign justice system, especially if they could face torture or the death penalty, which are outlawed in Ecuador.

The countrys former foreign minister, Mara Fernanda Espinosa, originally granted Mr. Assanges citizenship, citing a policy that allowed certain foreigners under international protection to be naturalized. She argued that Mr. Assanges refuge at the embassy was a case that qualified.

However, on Thursday, Ecuadors current foreign minister, Jos Valencia, said Mr. Assanges citizenship had been suspended because of irregularities, opening the door for him to be handed to the British authorities.

Mr. Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced questions about sexual assault accusations, which he has denied. Sweden rescinded its arrest warrant for Mr. Assange in 2017, but he refused to leave the embassy.

Under a previous president, Ecuador had offered Mr. Assange citizenship and open-ended refuge in its embassy. But its government soured on the relationship as the years kept passing, and it eventually began to impose limits on what Mr. Assange could say and do.

The Ecuadorean government said last year that it had cut off Mr. Assanges internet access, saying that he had violated an agreement to stop commenting on, or trying to influence, the politics of other countries. The government also imposed other restrictions, like limiting his visitors. He sued in October, claiming that it was violating his rights.

On Thursday, Mr. Moreno, who became Ecuadors president in 2017, said on Twitter that his country had decided to stop sheltering Mr. Assange after his repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols.

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Julian Assange Arrested in London as U.S. Unseals Hacking ...