Published 16:46 IST, April 11th 2019
'UK must resist!': A dishevelled Julian Assange's final warning as he was evicted from Ecuador's Embassy in London and taken into custody
WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange was arrested on Thursday in London after having spent seven years in Ecuador's Embassy the city. Assange, who was subject to extradition requests from the US as well as from Sweden during various points during his asylum at the Ecuador Embassy was captured on video being forcefully evicted in a state of dishevelment.Â
WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange was arrested on Thursday in London after having spent seven years in Ecuador's Embassy the city. Assange, who was subject to extradition requests from the US as well as from Sweden during various points during his asylum at the Ecuador Embassy was captured on video being forcefully evicted in a state of dishevelment.
In the video, Julian Assange is seen being lifted and carried out of the Embassy by the Ecuadorian authorities and the police, even as he appears to be mouthing something that later turns out to be 'resist'. He also looks very pale and starkly different from what people have seen of him.
The officials load him into the police bus, and he can be heard shouting, "UK must resist the Trump administration!" followed by several more "UK must resist!" in a loop.
A few seconds later, his chants can no longer be heard.
The London Metropolitan police said that they were invited into the embassy after the Ecuadorian government withdrew Assange's asylum status.
The official handle of WikiLeaks on Twitter claimed that Ecuador had illegally terminated Assange's political asylum for violating 'international law.'
The WikiLeaks founder was granted refugee status in 2012 while he was on bail in the UK over sexual assault allegations against him in Sweden.
However, Jen Robinson, a member of Assange's legal team, claims that the arrest was made in relation to a US extradition request, which may explain Assange's cryptic last warning as he was taken into custody.
The US had initiated a criminal investigation into Assange in 2010 after he released thousands of classified documents of the US 'war on terror' in Iraq. The 'intimate details' as Assange stated, were released to divulge the truth behind the war.
Updated 19:52 IST, April 11th 2019