News Desk |
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been arrested by the Metropolitan Police from the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Seven years ago, Assange had taken refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy to prevent his deportation to Sweden after being booked in a sexual assault case, which was dropped during this period.
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The Metropolitan Police arrested Julian Assange for his failure to surrender himself to the authorities, and the President of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, announced the withdrawal of the asylum granted to Assange on grounds of his multiple violations of international laws and norms.
BBC reported that over the years, Assange was barred from accessing the internet and he was accused of engaging in political activities, which is strictly prohibited when one claims political asylum.
However, WikiLeaks tweeted against Ecuador’s “illegal” actions and stated that denying Julian Assange’s political asylum is a “violation of international laws”. The news was confirmed by the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, in a tweet that said, “I can confirm Julian Assange is now in police custody and rightly facing justice in the UK.”
Julian Assange had taken political asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy 7 years ago, stating he will be extradited to US and would get arrested there for publication of hundreds of thousands of US diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks. However, today, once the Ecuadorian President withdrew this asylum, Scotland Yard was invited to enter the embassy by the acting ambassador and arrest Assange.
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At present, BBC News reports that the statement issued by the London police states that Julian Assange is in custody at the central London police station, and is due to appear in front of the Westminster Magistrate’s court “as soon as possible”.
Sir Alan Duncan, the foreign minister of the United Kingdom states that this arrest has been secured after conducting “extensive dialogue” with the Ecuadorian government. Assange’s arrest occurred only a day after WikiLeak’s announcement of uncovering “an extensive spying operation against its co-founder at the Ecuadorian embassy”.
The terms of Julian Assange’s political asylum with the Ecuadorian government are unclear as they have been many disputes regarding the activities that Assange was allowed to do and those that were prohibited. BBC reported that over the years, Assange was barred from accessing the internet and he was accused of engaging in political activities, which is strictly prohibited when one claims political asylum.
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The report concluded that while the initial legal proceedings in Julian Assange’s case will begin in the United Kingdom, he could be deported to the US to be prosecuted over the activities of WikiLeaks.
The article had input by Mina Jahangir and edited by Sana Mushtaq.