WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Arrested By British Police After Ecuador Withdraws Asylum Status

WikiLeaks co-founder and well-known whistleblower Julian Assange has been taken into custody by officers from the Metropolitan Police Force at the Ecuadorian embassy in London after his asylum status was withdrawn by the Latin American country, reports BBC.

Assange had sought asylum at the embassy some seven years ago after facing criminal charges in Sweden in a case of sexual assault. The WikiLeaks founder denied any wrongdoing and refused to be extradited to Sweden.

In a statement, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno said that this country had withdrawn Assange’s asylum status due to the latter’s persistent violations of global conventions.

A number of countries have been extremely critical of the work done by WikiLeaks and Assange and making a large number of classified or secret filed public. WikiLeaks was instrumental in bringing to the limelight human rights violations by the US military in the Middle-East.

Another major revelation was the public release of Democratic National Convention e-mails showing that the body was working behind the scenes in order to support Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the party’s nomination, against the bid of Bernie Sanders.