UPDATE - British court finds Assange guilty of skipping bail

UPDATE - British court finds Assange guilty of skipping bail

WikiLeaks founder to be sentenced on May 2, court says, with prison term of up to 12 months expected

UPDATES WITH STATEMENTS FROM UK HOME SECRETARY, JULIAN ASSANGE'S LEGAL TEAM AND WIKILEAKS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - A British court on Thursday found WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange guilty of breaking his bail terms in 2012 after failing to surrender to security services.

Judge Michael Snow at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court said he will be sentenced on May 2 at Southwark Crown Court, as Assange is now facing a prison term of up to 12 months, according to reports.

Snow said Assange had shown the “behavior of a narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interest.”

Assange was arrested after Ecuador’s Embassy in London decided to expel him from their building on Thursday.

British police said he was arrested for skipping his bail in 2012 and on behalf of the U.S. due to an extradition warrant.

"Since 2010, we have warned that Julian Assange would face prosecution and extradition to the U.S. for his publishing activities with WikiLeaks," Jenifer Robinson, a lawyer from Assange’s legal team told reporters in front of the court.

"Unfortunately today we have been proven right," she said.

She said the legal team has received a “warrant of provisional extradition request from the U.S., alleging that he has conspired with Chelsea Manning in relation to the materials published by WikiLeaks in 2010.”

"This sets a dangerous precedent to all media organizations and journalists in Europe and elsewhere around the world," Robinson said.

"This precedent means that any journalists can be extradited for prosecution in the U.S. for having published truthful information about the U.S.," she added.

She said she visited Assange in the cell, and he said: “I told you so.”


- 'Dark day for journalism'


Also speaking alongside Robinson, Kristinn Hrafnsson -- WikiLeaks’ editor-in-chief -- said today was “a dark day for journalism.”

He said the U.K. government should give assurance that a journalist will never be extradited to the U.S. for “publishing activity.”

Assange is expected to appear on a video hearing on May 2, the day he is due to be sentenced by the crown court, on the charges he faces from the U.S. authorities.

Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed the arrest, confirming that Assange was “also arrested in relation to an extradition request from the U.S. authorities.”

Thanking the police for “great professionalism” and welcoming “the co-operation of the Ecuadorian government” during a statement in the House of Commons, May said the arrest “goes to show that in the U.K., no one is above the law.”

Assange was seen shouting "you must resist, you can resist" as he was carried by officers into a police van at about 10.30 a.m. local time.

The police said they had a “duty to execute the warrant, on behalf of Westminster Magistrates' Court, and were invited into the embassy by the ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum.”

Earlier Thursday the WikiLeaks founded was expelled from Ecuador’s Embassy in London, his home for nearly seven years.

- ‘No hero’

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said they "are not making any judgment" about Assange's innocence or guilt.

Speaking to SkyNews, Hunt said Assange is "no hero" and "no-one is above the law."

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said in a statement to parliament that the extradition request will be handled by the British judiciary. He said the authorities dealing with the extradition will have to receive 4 documents from the US authorities in 65 days.

"I am pleased that the situation in the Ecuadorian embassy has finally been brought to an end," Javid said.

"Mr Assange will now have the opportunity to contest the charge against him in open court and to have any extradition requests considered by the judiciary."

Last week WikiLeaks said on Twitter that “a high level source within the Ecuadorian state has told WikiLeaks that Julian Assange will be expelled within ‘hours to days’ using the INAPapers offshore scandal as a pretext -- and that it already has an agreement with the U.K. for his arrest,” referring to documents allegedly implicating corruption by Ecuador’s president.

A Metropolitan Police arrest warrant was still in force after Assange absconded after his release on bail in 2010.

Assange has been holed up at the Ecuadorian Embassy in Knightsbridge, central London, for nearly seven years since claiming diplomatic asylum in June 2012 after being wanted by Swedish prosecutors for questioning over various alleged sexual offenses.

Sweden since dropped the charges against him, but Assange remained at the embassy, fearing extradition to the U.S. on charges over WikiLeaks’ release of sensitive US government files.

He was supposed to be extradited to Stockholm by British authorities before entering the embassy.

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