WikiLeaks' Julian Assange arrested; U.S. seeks extradition from U.K.
The founder of the group that published sensitive government files was arrested under an extradition warrant on behalf of the U.S., police in London said.
Video: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/wikileaks-...on-n991236
LONDON — Julian Assange, the fugitive founder of WikiLeaks and publisher of state secrets that embarrassed governments around the world, was arrested on behalf of the U.S. in London on Thursday.
Assange was wanted by British authorities for skipping bail in August 2012, while he was under investigation for sexual assault and rape in Sweden. He had spent almost seven years living in the U.K. capital's Ecuadorian Embassy.
London's Metropolitan Police later confirmed that Assange had been arrested under an extradition warrant.
A source directly familiar with the situation told NBC News that the U.S. is making plans to seek Assange's extradition in connection with sealed federal charges filed in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Assange's longstanding barrister Jen Robinson tweeted that the warrant was first issued in 2017.
From #Assange: The US warrant was issued in December 2017 and is for conspiracy with Chelsea Manning @xychelsea in early 2010.
— Jen Robinson (@suigenerisjen) April 11, 2019
Police earlier said the Ecuadorian government had withdrawn asylum for Assange, adding that officers had been "invited into the embassy by the ambassador."
Footage shot by the Ruptly news agency showed a bedraggled Assange being carried out of the building by seven men.
As he was bundled into a waiting police van, Assange shouted: "You must resist. You can resist ... the U.K. must resist."
Officials said Assange was taken to a local police station, where he was was arrested on behalf of American authorities on a warrant under Britain's Extradition Act.
Assange is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court "as soon as is possible," police added.
Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno said in a video message that Assange had his diplomatic asylum withdrawn due to "repeatedly violating international conventions."
Moreno added that he asked the U.K. not to extradite Assange "to a country where he could face torture or the death penalty."
Alan Duncan, a British government minister, welcomed Assange's eviction and said it was the result of "extensive dialogue" between the U.K. and Ecuador.
The Australian national has maintained that if forced to leave the embassy he would eventually be extradited to the U.S. to face charges.
Barry J. Pollack, Assange's U.S.-based attorney, said in a statement: "It is bitterly disappointing that a country would allow someone to whom it has extended citizenship and asylum to be arrested in its embassy."
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry, criticized Assange's arrest.
"The hand of 'democracy' squeezes the throat of freedom," she said in a Facebook post.
WikiLeaks said in a tweet that Assange's political asylum had been "illegally terminated in violation of international law."
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
The group has repeatedly claimed that the Justice Department is building a criminal case centered on the leaking of Democratic emails hacked by the Russians in the 2016 election.
President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, told a congressional hearing in February that former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone was in contact with Assange before WikiLeaks released leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee.
Assange, 47, has always maintained that the source of the leaks was not Russia, contrary to the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies.
NOTE: THIS COULD TURN OUT IN OUR FAVOR. IF ASSANGE REVEALS THAT SETH RICH WAS THE SOURCE OF THE DNC EMAILS THEN THAT DESTROYS THE DNC NARRATIVE. IT SHOULD FORCE THE US TO RE-OPEN THE MURDER OF SETH RICH. THEN TRUMP PARDONS HIM!
Special counsel Robert Mueller recently concluded his probe into Russian electoral interference and the Trump campaign.
Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2006 and made news four years later with the publication of leaked information provided by Chelsea Manning, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst and self-described whistleblower.
These included a video of a U.S. military helicopter fatally shooting people in Iraq, and thousands of classified military logs revealing sensitive information about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, thought to be the biggest leaks in U.S. military history.
Manning last month refused to testify before a federal grand jury looking into the release of documents to WikiLeaks.
In November 2010, the Swedish government issued an international arrest warrant for Assange in connection with allegations of sexual assault and rape from two women. Assange, who has denied the allegations, surrendered to British police the following month and was released on bail — whereupon he fled, breaking the terms of his bond agreement.
Assange's lawyers have often warned that he would be handed over to U.S. prosecutors because of WikiLeaks' publication of classified documents. Rafael Correa, then the president of Ecuador, granted him asylum in 2012.
Sweden dropped its investigation into Assange in 2017. However, under Swedish law it is possible he could still be arrested should he return to the country before the statute of limitation expires in August 2020.
Elisabeth Massi Fritz, lawyer for one of Assange's accusers, said on Thursday that she would "do everything we possibly can" to get police to reopen the investigation "so that Assange can be extradited to Sweden and prosecuted for rape."
Sweden's chief prosecutor, Ingrid Isgren, confirmed on Thursday that that the "preliminary investigation" into Assange could be resumed as long as he goes to Sweden before the 2020 deadline.
Assange has remained in the embassy because London's Metropolitan Police said he would be arrested for violating his bail as soon as he stepped outside. The local force has been running an expensive operation to post officers outside the building in case that happens.
Assange became an Ecuadorian citizen last year, even though his relations with his hosts had soured years ago.
In 2016, the Ecuadorian government cut off his access to the internet in the embassy after WikiLeaks published a trove of emails from Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. The government said it was trying to make sure he couldn't interfere in the affairs of other countries.
In January, WikiLeaks sent a 5,000-word email to journalists listing 140 things they should not say about Assange, from asserting that he has been an agent of any intelligence service to that he has ever bleached his hair.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/wikileaks-...on-n991236
Video: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/wikileaks-...on-n991236
The founder of the group that published sensitive government files was arrested under an extradition warrant on behalf of the U.S., police in London said.
Video: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/wikileaks-...on-n991236
LONDON — Julian Assange, the fugitive founder of WikiLeaks and publisher of state secrets that embarrassed governments around the world, was arrested on behalf of the U.S. in London on Thursday.
Assange was wanted by British authorities for skipping bail in August 2012, while he was under investigation for sexual assault and rape in Sweden. He had spent almost seven years living in the U.K. capital's Ecuadorian Embassy.
London's Metropolitan Police later confirmed that Assange had been arrested under an extradition warrant.
A source directly familiar with the situation told NBC News that the U.S. is making plans to seek Assange's extradition in connection with sealed federal charges filed in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Assange's longstanding barrister Jen Robinson tweeted that the warrant was first issued in 2017.
From #Assange: The US warrant was issued in December 2017 and is for conspiracy with Chelsea Manning @xychelsea in early 2010.
— Jen Robinson (@suigenerisjen) April 11, 2019
Police earlier said the Ecuadorian government had withdrawn asylum for Assange, adding that officers had been "invited into the embassy by the ambassador."
Footage shot by the Ruptly news agency showed a bedraggled Assange being carried out of the building by seven men.
As he was bundled into a waiting police van, Assange shouted: "You must resist. You can resist ... the U.K. must resist."
Officials said Assange was taken to a local police station, where he was was arrested on behalf of American authorities on a warrant under Britain's Extradition Act.
Assange is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court "as soon as is possible," police added.
Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno said in a video message that Assange had his diplomatic asylum withdrawn due to "repeatedly violating international conventions."
Moreno added that he asked the U.K. not to extradite Assange "to a country where he could face torture or the death penalty."
Alan Duncan, a British government minister, welcomed Assange's eviction and said it was the result of "extensive dialogue" between the U.K. and Ecuador.
The Australian national has maintained that if forced to leave the embassy he would eventually be extradited to the U.S. to face charges.
Barry J. Pollack, Assange's U.S.-based attorney, said in a statement: "It is bitterly disappointing that a country would allow someone to whom it has extended citizenship and asylum to be arrested in its embassy."
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry, criticized Assange's arrest.
"The hand of 'democracy' squeezes the throat of freedom," she said in a Facebook post.
WikiLeaks said in a tweet that Assange's political asylum had been "illegally terminated in violation of international law."
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
The group has repeatedly claimed that the Justice Department is building a criminal case centered on the leaking of Democratic emails hacked by the Russians in the 2016 election.
President Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, told a congressional hearing in February that former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone was in contact with Assange before WikiLeaks released leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee.
Assange, 47, has always maintained that the source of the leaks was not Russia, contrary to the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies.
NOTE: THIS COULD TURN OUT IN OUR FAVOR. IF ASSANGE REVEALS THAT SETH RICH WAS THE SOURCE OF THE DNC EMAILS THEN THAT DESTROYS THE DNC NARRATIVE. IT SHOULD FORCE THE US TO RE-OPEN THE MURDER OF SETH RICH. THEN TRUMP PARDONS HIM!
Special counsel Robert Mueller recently concluded his probe into Russian electoral interference and the Trump campaign.
Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2006 and made news four years later with the publication of leaked information provided by Chelsea Manning, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst and self-described whistleblower.
These included a video of a U.S. military helicopter fatally shooting people in Iraq, and thousands of classified military logs revealing sensitive information about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, thought to be the biggest leaks in U.S. military history.
Manning last month refused to testify before a federal grand jury looking into the release of documents to WikiLeaks.
In November 2010, the Swedish government issued an international arrest warrant for Assange in connection with allegations of sexual assault and rape from two women. Assange, who has denied the allegations, surrendered to British police the following month and was released on bail — whereupon he fled, breaking the terms of his bond agreement.
Assange's lawyers have often warned that he would be handed over to U.S. prosecutors because of WikiLeaks' publication of classified documents. Rafael Correa, then the president of Ecuador, granted him asylum in 2012.
Sweden dropped its investigation into Assange in 2017. However, under Swedish law it is possible he could still be arrested should he return to the country before the statute of limitation expires in August 2020.
Elisabeth Massi Fritz, lawyer for one of Assange's accusers, said on Thursday that she would "do everything we possibly can" to get police to reopen the investigation "so that Assange can be extradited to Sweden and prosecuted for rape."
Sweden's chief prosecutor, Ingrid Isgren, confirmed on Thursday that that the "preliminary investigation" into Assange could be resumed as long as he goes to Sweden before the 2020 deadline.
Assange has remained in the embassy because London's Metropolitan Police said he would be arrested for violating his bail as soon as he stepped outside. The local force has been running an expensive operation to post officers outside the building in case that happens.
Assange became an Ecuadorian citizen last year, even though his relations with his hosts had soured years ago.
In 2016, the Ecuadorian government cut off his access to the internet in the embassy after WikiLeaks published a trove of emails from Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. The government said it was trying to make sure he couldn't interfere in the affairs of other countries.
In January, WikiLeaks sent a 5,000-word email to journalists listing 140 things they should not say about Assange, from asserting that he has been an agent of any intelligence service to that he has ever bleached his hair.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/wikileaks-...on-n991236
Video: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/wikileaks-...on-n991236
