WikiLeaks founder arrested in London

A London judge found WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange guilty Thursday of skipping bail after the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he had sought refuge the past seven years, expelled him. He faces a sentence of 12 months for the charge. Assange originally claimed asylum at the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden on rape allegations. The United States has also charged him in connection with WikiLeaks’ publication of classified government documents. Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno said Assange committed “repeated violations of international conventions and daily-life protocols” at the embassy.

Sweden’s top prosecutor dropped the rape investigation against Assange in 2017, saying there was no chance of arresting him “in the foreseeable future.” Chief Prosecutor Marianne Ny, who is now retired, said she could reopen the case if the situation changed. The charge of skipping bail in Britain remained in place, along with the extradition request from the United States. British Prime Minister Theresa May said Assange’s arrest showed that “no one is above the law.”