Police in London arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for failing to surrender to the court in 2012. The arrest happened at the Ecuadorean Embassy .
He took refuge in the embassy seven years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault case that has since been dropped.
Ecuador’s President, Lenin Moreno said in a tweet that his government withdrew Assange’s status for repeated violations of international conventions.
He described it as a sovereign decision due to repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life.
“Today I announce that that the discourteous and aggressive behavior of Mr. Julian Assange, the hostile and threatening declarations of its allied organization, against Ecuador and especially the transgression of international treaties, have led the situation to a point where the asylum of Mr. Assange is unsustainable and no longer viable.”
Assange took refuge in the embassy in London in 2012 and has been there ever since.
Police said Assange 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.”
A Video posted by Ruptly, showed about five to six men in suits forcibly escorting Assange out of the embassy building. Surrounding him as he staggered down the steps and boarded a police van.
Police said officers were invited into the embassy by the ambassador following the Ecuador government’s withdrawal of Assange’s asylum.
Assange had not come out of the embassy for years because he feared arrest and extradition to the United States for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables through WikiLeaks.
His arrest came a day after WikiLeaks accused the Ecuador’s government of an “extensive spying operation” against Assange.
WikiLeaks claims meetings with lawyers and a doctor inside the embassy over the past year were secretly filmed.
They also claimed in a tweeted statement that Ecuador illegally terminated Assange’s political asylum “in violation of international law.”
