WikiLeaks founder arrested in London

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, arrested in London on Thursday for breaching his British bail conditions, is also being held over an extradition request from the United States, the Metropolitan Police Service said.

The Australian has "been further arrested on behalf of the United States authorities, at 10:53 am after his arrival at a central London police station. This is an extradition warrant under Section 73 of the Extradition Act", a statement said.

Police said they were "invited into the embassy by the ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum".

Ecuadorean Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Assange's citizenship has been suspended, after Ecuador terminated his asylum in its London embassy.

Earlier on the same day, Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno said the country withdrew Assange's asylum after his repeated violations of international conventions and daily-life protocols.

"I announce that the discourteous and aggressive behavior of Mr Julian Assange, the hostile and threatening declaration 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.

But WikiLeaks said that "Ecuador has illegally terminated Assange's political asylum in violation of international law".

Assange has been in hiding at the Ecuadorean embassy since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual assault and rape.

The case has since been dropped, but the 47-year-old refused to leave the embassy claiming he would be extradited from Sweden to the US for his role in publishing secret US documents on WikiLeaks.

UK's Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: "I can confirm Julian Assange is now in police custody and rightly facing justice in the UK. I would like to thank Ecuador for its cooperation with the Metropolitan police for its professionalism. No one is above the law."

Alan Duncan, UK's foreign minister, said the arrest followed "extensive dialogue between our two countries" and "it is absolutely right that Assange will face justice in the proper way in the UK. It is for the courts to decide what happens next".

boleung@mail.chinadailyuk.com

(China Daily 04/12/2019 page11)