By Agency
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested in London after Ecuador withdrew its political asylum citing alleged “repeated violations”.
WikiLeaks has slammed Ecuador’s move as a violation of international law, while President Lenin Moreno claimed the UK had agreed not to extradite Assange to a country where he may face death penalty.
In case you’re wondering, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange stayed in his self-imposed exile at Ecuador’s London Embassy for six years, nine months and 24 days,or 2,488 days from start to end. He entered his diplomatic bolthole on June 19, 2012.
US Justice Department officials expect to bring additional charges against Assange, according to a US official briefed on the matter. It is unclear when officials would bring such charges.
The years-long FBI investigation into Assange transformed in recent years with the recovery of communications that prosecutors believe shows Assange had been a more active participant in a conspiracy to hack computers and violate US law, officials say.
The Justice Department had struggled for years with the question of whether Assange and WikiLeaks should be treated as journalists and publishers. News organizations similarly published stolen classified documents, some even worked with WikiLeaks to get access to documents and publish stories.
The view among prosecutors began changing late in the Obama administration, in part due to new evidence the FBI believed showed Assange was not entitled to journalistic protections.
In 2017, the WikiLeaks publication of stolen CIA hacking codes helped propel the case against Assange, according to current and former US law enforcement officials.
