Julian Assange Arrested in London After Ecuador Withdraws Asylum

Ecuador's Embassy in London where Wikileaks founder Julian Assange lived until his arrest on Thursday. Photo: Alastair Grant/AP

JULIAN ASSANGE, the Wikileaks founder, was arrested on Thursday by London’s Metropolitan Police service, which said in a statement officers were “invited into the embassy by the Ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government’s withdrawal of asylum.”

Video of Assange being dragged from the embassy was captured on a live stream set up by Ruptly, a Russian government news agency.

Wikileaks confirmed that Assange was arrested inside the embassy.

URGENT

Julian Assange did not “walk out of the embassy”. The Ecuadorian ambassador invited British police into the embassy and he was immediately arrested.

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 11, 2019

Assange, 47, will be held at a central London police station until an appearance at Westminster Magistrates’ Court can be arranged, the police said. The force explained that it was acting on a warrant issued by that court after Assange took refuge in the embassy in 2012, violating bail conditions by not returning to court for a hearing on his attempt to resist extradition to Sweden, where he was wanted for questioning on sexual assault allegations.

{*** CONTINUED ***}