Julian Assange Arrested By British Police Inside Ecuadorian Embassy
11 April 2019, 10:41 | Updated: 11 April 2019, 14:29
Julian Assange, has been arrested by police at the Embassy of Ecuador, on a warrant issued by Westminster Magistrates' for failing to surrender to the court.
Police have confirmed that Mr Assange been further arrested "on behalf of the United States authorities, at 10:53hrs after his arrival at a central London police station."
Officers say the arrest was carried out under Extradition Act.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted that Assange was no hero and that no one is above the law. He went on to add that the publisher has hidden from the truth for years.
Julian Assange is no hero and no one is above the law. He has hidden from the truth for years. Thank you Ecuador and President @Lenin Moreno for your cooperation with @foreignoffice to ensure Assange faces justice
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) April 11, 2019
In a video shot just after his arrest, Assange can be seen wagging his finger at police as he is carried from the Embassy, clutching a copy of Gore Vidal's History of the National Security State, before the WikiLeaks founder is unceremoniously hurled into a van.
Assange has been in the embassy since 2012, where the WikiLeaks founder was granted refuge in 2012 while on bail in the UK over sexual assault allegations against him in Sweden, charges which were later dropped.
At the time, he feared should he be extradited to Sweden he could be arrested by the US and face charges relating to WikiLeaks’s publication of hundreds of thousands of US diplomatic cables.
In a statement the Metropolitan Police say they were invited into the embassy by the Ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum.
Police say the WikiLeaks founder was taken to a central London police station where he will remain, before being presented before Westminster Magistrates' Court as soon as is possible.
