BREAKING: WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Arrested in London
British police arrest whistleblower at Ecuadorian embassy
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested at the Ecuadorian Embassy in central London, police have said.
Mr. Assange, sporting a long white beard, was carried out by police officers from the embassy and moved into a police van.
Assange was awarded political asylum by Ecuador after becoming a fugitive from a British arrest warrant for breaching bail conditions in 2012.
In November 2010, Sweden issued an international arrest warrant for Assange over allegations of sexual assault and rape.
Assange denied the allegations and said that he would be extradited from Sweden to the United States because of his role in publishing secret American documents.
Assange surrendered to UK police on 7 December 2010 but was released on bail within 10 days.
Having been unsuccessful in his challenge to the extradition proceedings, he breached his bail and absconded.
He was granted asylum by Ecuador in August 2012 and has remained in the Embassy of Ecuador in London since then.
Assange has held Ecuadorian citizenship since 12 December 2017.
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WikiLeaks stated on Wednesday that founder Julian Assange has been the subject of an "extensive spying operation" during his asylum tenure inside the Ecuadoran embassy in London.
In a press conference on Wednesday, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson said several individuals in Spain had threatened to leak a "massive trove of documents" accumulated on Assange, including videos, photos, and audio captured inside the embassy, and further documents.
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The price of their silence was pitched at €3 million.
It is a "total invasion of privacy," which, Hrafnsson added, was "not something that even prisoners have to endure."
"It is absolutely right that Assange will face justice in the proper way in the UK," said Minister of State for Europe and the Americas, Sir Alan Duncan.
"It is for the courts to decide what happens next."
Duncan said they grateful to the Government of Ecuador under President Moreno for the action they have taken.
More to follow on this breaking story...
