National Review/Jack Crowe: Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Arrested

National Review

Apr. 11, 2019
   
News
World   
Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange Arrested
By Jack Crowe

April 11, 2019 7:24 AM

Julian Assange on the balcony of the Ecuadorean embassy in London, May 2017 (Peter Nicholls / Reuters)

Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder who has made enemies of governments around the world by releasing confidential, and often embarrassing, intelligence documents to the public, was arrested Thursday at the Ecuadorian embassy in London by the British police.

Assange was expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy, where he has lived for four years, after “his repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols” led the Ecuadorian ambassador to rescind his country’s protection.

Wikileaks announced last Friday that Ecuador “already has an agreement with the UK for his arrest.”

A video of Assange’s arrest shows him being carried down the steps of the embassy while shouting “the U.K. must resist.”

    Assange arrest video:

    "The UK must resist this attempt by the Trump administration"https://t.co/fq1JGfw40u

    — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 11, 2019

The British metropolitan police explained in a statement released Thursday that Assange was arrested on“a warrant issued by Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 29 June 2012, for failing to surrender to the court.”

The Department of Justice has charged Assange in connection with his publication of thousands of classified government documents, a fact they accidentally revealed in an unrelated court filing in February.
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Wikileaks rose to prominence in 2010 by releasing a cache of classified U.S. intelligence documents and diplomatic cables pertaining to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Chelsea Manning, a transgender woman formerly known as Bradley, was arrested for leaking those documents and was sentenced to 35 years in prison but was released after serving just seven.

Assange, 47, is also suspected of aiding Russia in their efforts to disrupt the 2016 election by publishing confidential and damaging Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign documents. He has explicitly stated his desire to damage Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign but has long denied receiving the hacked documents from Russian agents, as American intelligence agencies allege.




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Jack Crowe is a news writer at National Review Online. @JackRCrowe
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