WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested by British police Thursday moments after Ecuador announced it withdrew his asylum for “repeatedly violating international conventions and protocol.”
Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno described the decision to withdraw Assange’s asylum as a “sovereign decision” because of his alleged repeated violations.
“Today I announce that that the discourteous and aggressive behavior of Mr. Julian Assange, the hostile and threatening declarations of its allied organization, against Ecuador, and especially the transgression of international treaties, have led the situation to a point where the asylum of Mr. Assange is unsustainable and no longer viable,” Moreno said in a video statement posted on Twitter.
Video of Assange’s arrest showed him with a full white beard and yelling something out to reporters as he was being dragged from the embassy, but it was unclear what he said.
Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Jose Valencia told Teleamazonas this week that living in the embassy indefinitely is bad for Assange’s "state of mind, his health,” but that Assange has a right to a fair trial and right to a defense.
London's Metropolitan Police vowed earlier this month to arrest the 47-year-old Australian native if he were freed. Assange, who has lived in the embassy for more than six years, faces possible extradition to the U.S. for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables through WikiLeaks.
Assange has been in the embassy since 2012 when British courts ordered him extradited to Sweden to face questioning in a sexual assault case. That matter has since been dropped, but Wikileaks is facing a federal grand jury investigation over its publication of American diplomatic and military secrets during the Iraq War.
British police made the announcement of Assange’s arrest moments after Ecuador decided to withdraw asylum. Jennifer Robinson, Assange’s attorney, said in a tweet Assange was arrested on an extradition request from the U.S. as well as on charges of breaching his bail conditions.
Assange “has been arrested not just for breach of bail conditions but also in relation to a US extradition request,” Robinson tweeted.
The U.S. Justice Department revealed the existence of a sealed criminal case against Assange in a court filing last year. It wasn’t clear what he was accused of.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnews.com/world/ecuador-withdraws-asylum-from-julian-assange-arrested-by-uk-police.amp
