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Russia to bring up Assange’s arrest within international organizations

Assange was arrested by the United Kingdom’s Metropolitan Police Service on Thursday

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

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Department of Justice confirms Assange arrested on US extradition request

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. Moscow intends to bring up Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s arrest within international organizations, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.

"We will definitely bring this situation up within international organizations," she said. "I think journalism organizations should have their say because the situation is unprecedented," she added.

Assange was arrested by the United Kingdom’s Metropolitan Police Service on Thursday after Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno had announced the withdrawal of his asylum.

Assange’s situation

In 2012, Assange sought refuge in London's Ecuadorian Embassy to escape extradition to Sweden, which had issued a warrant for his arrest on sexual harassment and rape charges. Assange dismissed the accusations as politically motivated. His worst fear was Sweden might extradite him to the United States, where he would face 35 years in prison or capital punishment for publishing classified State Department documents. The rape case was dropped in 2017 but the United Kingdom continued to insist that Assange be arrested over his failure to appear in court in London.

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