Julian Assange: Wikileaks founder arrested by UK police and …

Wikileaks founder Julian Assangeis facing extradition to the US after beingarrested by British police and forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Officers executed a warrant for the 47-year-olds arrest on Thursday morning after the Ecuadorian government withdrew his asylum, blaming his "discourteous and aggressive behaviour".

Mr Assange took refuge in the Knightsbridge embassy seven years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced sexual assault allegations.

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Those accusations have since been dropped but he remainedwanted forfailing to surrender to Westminster Magistrates Court in June 2012.

After being taken into custody at a central London police station on Thursday morning, he was arrested again behalf of US authorities, who are seeking his extradition over the release of sensitive government files.

Assange was arrested after Metropolitan Police officers were invited into the Ecuadorian embassy on April 11 2019. How did it come to this?

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Assange shows the front page of the Guardian on July 26 2010, the day that they broke the story of the thousands of military files leaked by WikiLeaks

AFP/Getty

A warrant for Assange's arrest was issued in August 2010 for counts of rape and molestation in Sweden

AFP/Getty

The UK's Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face trial

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Following the ruling, Assange was given asylum by the Ecuadorian governement over fears that his human rights would be violated if he were extradited, he has since remained in the embassy in London

Getty

Friend Pamela Anderson delivers lunch to Assange at the embassy in October 2016. She has since spoken against his arrest

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A UN panel found in 2016 that Assange had been arbitrarily detained and that he had not been able to claim his full right to asylum. It urged Sweden to withdraw the charges against him

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Last year, the Ecuadorian embassy threatened to revoke Assange's internet access unless he stopped making political statements online and started taking better care of James, his pet cat. Assange accused Ecuador of violating his rights

Reuters

Assange was arrested on April 11 2019. Ecuador revoked his asylum status and invited the Metropolitan Police in to the embassy to arrest him.

Reuters

Assange was arrested after Metropolitan Police officers were invited into the Ecuadorian embassy on April 11 2019. How did it come to this?

Ruptly TV

Assange shows the front page of the Guardian on July 26 2010, the day that they broke the story of the thousands of military files leaked by WikiLeaks

AFP/Getty

A warrant for Assange's arrest was issued in August 2010 for counts of rape and molestation in Sweden

AFP/Getty

The UK's Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face trial

Getty

Following the ruling, Assange was given asylum by the Ecuadorian governement over fears that his human rights would be violated if he were extradited, he has since remained in the embassy in London

Getty

Friend Pamela Anderson delivers lunch to Assange at the embassy in October 2016. She has since spoken against his arrest

Getty

A UN panel found in 2016 that Assange had been arbitrarily detained and that he had not been able to claim his full right to asylum. It urged Sweden to withdraw the charges against him

Getty

Last year, the Ecuadorian embassy threatened to revoke Assange's internet access unless he stopped making political statements online and started taking better care of James, his pet cat. Assange accused Ecuador of violating his rights

Reuters

Assange was arrested on April 11 2019. Ecuador revoked his asylum status and invited the Metropolitan Police in to the embassy to arrest him.

Reuters

The US Department of Justice said Mr Assange had been charged over "an alleged conspiracy with Chelsea Manning "to break a password to a classified US government computer''.

Mr Assangehad long maintained he would beextradited to the US if he left the embassy.

The Metropolitan Police said it had a duty to execute the warrant and was"invited into the embassy by the Ambassador, following the Ecuadorian governments withdrawal of asylum.

Lenin Moreno, the Ecuadorian president, said Mr Assanges asylum had been revokedafter his repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols.

Heclaimed Mr Assangehe had accessed the consulate's security files without permission,"confronted and mistreated guards", and was "involved in interfering in internal affairs of other states".

Wikileaks accused Ecuador of terminatingthe asylum "in violation of international law.

"Powerful actors, including CIA, are engaged in a sophisticated effort to dehumanise, delegitimise and imprison" Mr Assange, it added in a tweet.

The Wikileaks founderwas led "screaming" and "struggling" from the embassy at about 10.25am, according to a witness. Footage showed him surrounded by officers as he was led from the building and bundled into a waiting van.

Mr Assange wastaken into custody at central London police station and will appear before Westminster magistrates "as soon as is possible", Scotland Yard said.

Sajid Javid, the UK home secretary, said the Wikileaks founder was rightly facing justice in the UK. He added: I would like to thank Ecuador for its cooperation and the Met Police for its professionalism. No one is above the law.

Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt added: "Julian Assange is no hero. He's hidden from the truth for years and years and it's right that his future should be decided in the British judicial system."

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A United Nationshuman rights expertlast week expressed concern about reports that Mr Assange was set to be expelled from the embassy.

Heis likely to be arrested by British authorities and extradited to the United States, saidNils Merlzer, the UN special rapporteur on torture. Such a response could expose him to a real risk of serious violations of his human rights, including his freedom of expression, his right to a fair trial and the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The UN has previously concluded Mr Assange's refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy amounted to arbitrary detention.

CIA whistleblowerEdward Snowden said: "Assange's critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom."

Mr Moreno said he had received written assurances from the UK government that MrAssangewould not be "extradited to a country where he could face torture or the death penalty".

Britain typically seeks guarantees that suspects will not be executed before extradition, but last year faced criticism for failing to obtain such assurances for two British Isis militants facing charges in the US.

Former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, whose government granted Mr Assange asylum, accused his successor of being "the greatest traitor" for allowing his arrest. He added: "Moreno is a corrupt man, but what he has done is a crime that humanity will never forget."

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