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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange arrested in London

Ecuador has decided to withdraw diplomatic asylum from Assange

Julian Assange Victoria Jones/PA via AP

Julian Assange

© Victoria Jones/PA via AP

LONDON, April 11. /TASS/. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service at the Embassy of Ecuador in London, the Met Police said in a statement on Thursday.

"He has been taken into custody at a central London police station where he will remain, before being presented before Westminster Magistrates' Court as soon as is possible," the statement reads.

BREAKING: #Assange removed from embassy - video pic.twitter.com/qsHy7ZVPg5
— Ruptly (@Ruptly) 11 April 2019

The Metropolitan Police Service also said it "had a duty to execute the warrant, on behalf of Westminster Magistrates' Court, and was invited into the embassy by the Ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum."

British Home Secretary Sajid Javid, in turn, said on Twitter that "nearly seven years after entering the Ecuadorean Embassy, 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 and the Metropolitan Police for its professionalism. No one is above the law," he added.

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"He has been taken into custody at a central London police station where he will remain, before being presented before Westminster Magistrates' Court as soon as is possible," the statement reads.

Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno said on Thursday that Ecuador had decided to withdraw diplomatic asylum from Assange.

"Ecuador has made a sovereign decision to withdraw diplomatic asylum from Julian Assange over regular violations of international conventions," Moreno wrote on Twitter.

In a sovereign decision Ecuador withdrew the asylum status to Julian Assange after his repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols. #EcuadorSoberano pic.twitter.com/pZsDsYNI0B
— Lenín Moreno (@Lenin) 11 April 2019

Wikileaks called Ecuador's decision to withdrawn Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s asylum illegal.

"Ecuador has illegally terminated Assange political asylum in violation of international law. He was arrested by the British police inside the Ecuadorian embassy minutes ago," the tweet reads.

Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno announced earlier that "Ecuador has made a sovereign decision to withdraw diplomatic asylum from Julian Assange over regular violations of international conventions."

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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