London: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, the BBC reported citing the police on Thursday.
He was arrested by British police on Thursday after they were invited into the Ecuadorean embassy where he has been holed up since 2012.
Assange took refuge in the embassy seven years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault case that has since been dropped.
The Metropolitan Police said he had been taken into custody and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court “as soon as is possible”.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested over sexual assault case:
“Julian Assange, 47, has today, Thursday 11 April, been arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) at the Embassy of Ecuador,” police said.
Police said they arrested Assange after being “invited into the embassy by the Ambassador, following the Ecuadorean government’s withdrawal of asylum.”
He took refuge in Ecuador’s London embassy in 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where authorities wanted to question him as part of a sexual assault investigation. That probe was later dropped, but Assange fears he could be extradited to face charges in the United States, where federal prosecutors are investigating WikiLeaks.
Assange was taken into custody at a central London police station and he will be brought before Westminster Magistrates’ Court, police said.
WikiLeaks founder’s relationship with his hosts collapsed after Ecuador accused him of leaking information about President Lenin Moreno’s personal life. Moreno had previously said Assange has violated the terms of his asylum.
