British police arrested Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, on Thursday after being summoned to the embassy of Ecuador, in London where Assange has been holed up since 2012.
Police officers arrested Julian Assange, 47, on Thursday at the Ecuadorian embassy, police said.
Police said they arrested Assange "after being summoned by the ambassador to the embassy following the withdrawal of the Ecuadorian government of asylum" granted to Assange.
The president of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, said his government had withdrawn the refugee status granted to Wikileaks founder after nearly seven years of resorting to the country's embassy in London, citing repeated violations of international norms and protocols of daily life.
Ecuador decidió soberanamente retirar el asilo diplomático a Julian Assange por violar reiteradamente convenciones internacionales y protocolo de convivencia. #EcuadorSoberano pic.twitter.com/V02pvvtPY0— Lenín Moreno (@Lenin) ١١ أبريل ٢٠١٩
Moreno announced the "sovereign decision" in a statement attached to a video on Twitter, Thursday, citing the Associated Press.
Asang has not left the embassy since August 2012 for fear of being arrested if he leaves the Ecuadorian embassy and delivers him to the United States for the deployment of thousands of military cables and secret diplomacy on Wikileaks
London police arrested Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy on Thursday on an arrest warrant issued against him in 2012 when he refused to go to trial
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt urged President Moreno to break the deadlock on the issue, saying on Twitter that Assange was "not a hero and no one above the law."
Assange confirmed that if he was forced to leave the embassy he would eventually be extradited to the United States to face charges.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized Asang's arrest.
"The hands of democracy are pressing the throat of freedom," she said in a publication on Facebook.
WikiLeaks said in a tweet that Asang's political asylum had "ended illegally in violation of international law."
Assange confirmed that if he was forced to leave the embassy he would eventually be extradited to the United States to face charges.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized Asang's arrest.
"The hands of democracy are pressing the throat of freedom," she said in a publication on Facebook.
WikiLeaks said in a tweet that Asang's political asylum had "ended illegally in violation of international law."
URGENT— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) ١١ أبريل ٢٠١٩
Julian Assange did not "walk out of the embassy". The Ecuadorian ambassador invited British police into the embassy and he was immediately arrested.
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