Assange's attorney Jennifer Robinson said he had been arrested on an extradition request from the United States as well as on charges of breaching his bail conditions.

Video posted on social media shows more than six officers removing Assange from the embassy and placing him in a police vehicle.

"He has been taken into custody at a central London police station where he will remain, before being presented before Westminster Magistrates' Court as soon as is possible," MPS said in a statement.

"The MPS had a duty to execute the warrant, on behalf of Westminster Magistrates' Court, and was invited into the embassy by the ambassador, following the Ecuadorian Government's withdrawal of asylum."

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-11/julian-assange-arrested-in-london...

The USA and the UK should be ashamed of their actions. We know anyhow that they are the pits of indecency and indulge in wars under false pretences. We have to protest. Of course our useless Aussie governments are in on the stint from day one and have no morals — totally bankrupt. 

We can only hope that Assange will be released within days.

Note: even under intense pain, I don't cry.... I don't cry at funerals. This event has brought tears to my eyes.

The Guardian tries hard not to be condemning of Julian Assange but in its pissy editorial instead of demanding a full freedom for Assange it fudges reasons for its tense relationship with Assange. This is not acceptable as Assange according to the UN should be a free man. FULL UNCONDITIONAL FREEDOM FOR ASSANGE !!!!. This is what all the world media should ask for, but they are afraid of their masters in political circle — or actually support the sadistic governments that represent us.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/09/the-guardian-view-on-julian-assange-it-would-be-wrong-to-extradite-him

The important facts of the case are as follows:

• Julian Assange is not wanted for ANY CRIME, except skipping his bail. This carries a maximum sentence of 6 months under UK Law.
• The Swedish authorities have dropped all their investigations of him for sexual assault. Read more on that here.
• Assange has said, many times, that above all else he is avoiding being extradited to the US. US officials have, in the past, referenced the idea of assassinating him, and their intelligence services are known to use “enhanced interrogation” techniques (aka torture).
• The UN has found, multiple times, that Assange’s detention was inhumane and illegal under international law.

Take a moment to imagine Assange was Chinese, Iranian, Russian. Any “enemy” nation.

Imagine a journalist had published leaked documents proving Vladimir Putin’s complicity in war crimes, imagine he had been hiding out in an embassy in Moscow for 8 years, despite the UN finding his detention to be “arbitrary” and calling on Russia to end his “deprivation of liberty”.

And then imagine a whole bunch of FSB officers carried him out like a hunting trophy, threw him in a van and drove him off to God know’s where.

How would our media cover that? Would they make jokes like this?

Read more:

https://off-guardian.org/2019/04/11/discuss-julian-asange-arrested/

Then the fascist US government came for your journalists....

Meanwhile the gutless New York Post "takes an angle":

Pamela Anderson lashed out against President Trump, Britain and “Equador” on Thursday following the arrest of her close pal Julian Assange.

The “Baywatch” star said she was “in shock” after watching video of the Wikileaks founder being dragged out of the Ecuador embassy in London.

“He looks very bad. How could you Equador ? (Because he exposed you),” Anderson tweeted. “How could you UK. ? Of course – you are America’s bitch and you need a diversion from your idiotic Brexit bulls–t.”

She railed in another tweet, “And the USA ? This toxic coward of a President He needs to rally his base? – You are selfish and cruel. You have taken the entire world backwards. You are devils and liars and thieves. And you will ROTT And WE WILL RISE.”

The 51-year-old blond bombshell has long defended Assange and frequently visited him during his seven-year stint at the embassy — sparking rumors that they’re romantically involved.

Read more:

https://pagesix.com/2019/04/11/pamela-anderson-flips-out-over-julian-ass...

Meanwhile the Sydcrapherald:

Elisabeth Fritz, the lawyer for a woman who accused Assange in 2010, said it was "a shock to my client that what we have been waiting and hoping for since 2012 has now finally happened".

Julian Assange is no hero, he has hidden from the truth for years and years ... This will now be decided properly, independently, by the British legal system.

"We are now going to do everything we possibly can to get the Swedish police investigation re-opened so that Assange can be extradited to Sweden and prosecuted for rape," she said. "No rape victim should have to wait nine years to see justice be served."

Swedish prosecutors issued a statement saying they had not yet been able to "take a position" on the news of Assange's arrest.

However they said their preliminary investigation against him "can be resumed as long as the suspected crime is not subject to statute of limitation".

"In this case, the suspected crime of rape would be subject to statute of limitation in mid-August 2020."

Assange’s lawyers have said if Assange is extradited to the US he would not receive a fair trial. Their opposition to his extradition to Sweden has been based on anticipating his removal to the US, rather than avoiding the investigation into the rape accusation - which Assange denies.

He reportedly faces criminal charges relating to the publication of classified documents by WikiLeaks. He has also been accused of aiding Russia’s interference in the US’ 2016 presidential election, by distributing a trove of emails stolen from the Clinton campaign and Democratic party.

Read more:

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-arr...

Assange did the world, us, a many favours by exposing the duplicity of our FASCIST GOVERNMENTS that hide behind secrecy, fake news and wars that were, are and will be despicable. We owe many salutes to Assange and we need to tell the grubs in Sweden, in the UK, and in the USA, whoever they are that they cannot hide behind crook interpretations of laws that now have lost all meanings.

Our media are also the pits of darkness as they, like pontius pilatus, wash their hands "clean" as if they never had blood on their hands. 

The Western media are the whores and pimps of FASCIST governments. UNACCEPTABLE.

Metropolitan police arrested Assange inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London Thursday, where he had been residing since 2012 under political asylum fearing extradition over the now dropped charges in Sweden and WikiLeaks' revelations in the US. A US host and human rights activists have given their take on Assange’s arrest and its implications.

Alfred de Zayas, an American lawyer, writer, historian, expert in the field of human rights and international law, as well as a former UN official, has portrayed Assange’s arrest as “a juridical aberration and a grave violation of the refugee convention".

He stressed in written commentary to Sputnik that the high commissioner for human rights should make a statement denouncing Ecuador's actions and demanding comprehensive protection of Assange’’s rights under the Geneva Convention.

Commenting on the development, Don Debar, host of the US syndicated daily radio newscast CPR News, stressed that “the arrest of Julian Assange will, in the long term, do more to expose the real nature of the so-called democratic West than 100 document dumps could ever do".

He dwelled on the “non-existent press freedom in the US and Europe", which the detention virtually exposed, arguing that should one come up with materials “exposing criminal activity by the powerful, the publisher but not the exposed powerful criminal will face prosecution".

He further addressed the “farcical” idea of unbiased prosecution:

“The idea of an independent judiciary is farcical — the on-again/off-again nature of the charges in the Swedish courts, as well as the Torqmada-esq secret proceedings in the US which are certainly driving them, show that prosecutions can target and be controlled across borders to exact political vengeance", the journalist noted, adding that elections in the West are also a farce, “and the US meddles in these in the same way Kasparov 'meddles' with a chess board".

“Lenin Moreno was elected to continue the program of his predecessor — and primary supporter before the election — former president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, which included a rejection again by the electorate of neo-liberal economics and an independent course for Ecuador's foreign policy which included sanctuary for Julian Assange", the commenter shared, adding that almost instantly after having been elected Moreno exposed his “true colours".

Specifically, he started to implement neo-liberal austerity principles at home and “behave as a US vassal abroad", which included threatening Julian’s asylum status.

“Today we saw the extent to which the latter has been pursued, and, not coincidentally, at a time when Moreno's illegal and corrupt activities are being exposed", Debar stated, adding that Moreno is doing his best to distract the Ecuadorian people from these facts, that “he's a crook, he's a stooge of Washington".

“There will be more austerity and pain for the Ecuadorian people if he is allowed to continue", the commenter concluded.

Andy Vermaut, a Belgian human rights activist, is sure that Julain Assange knew perfectly what would happen, “as this was published on Wikileaks itself", however “he must certainly not have been naïve". Vermaut brought up the fact that Assange had addressed the issue of money laundering practices by the Ecuadorian president, stating that he if had chosen not to, he “would not be honest to his principles", despite the obvious fact that the Ecuadorian leadership would respond.

“Julian Assange found the search for truth more important than this appointment. He eventually sacrificed himself for the truth. A whole witch hunt has been orchestrated against him. Everyone knows that", Vermaut stated adding that Assange has been criminalised, whereas he is in actual fact “the hero of the free speech in the world".

“Shooting at the pianist, who did not write the symphony himself, is a common fact in a lot of countries who say that democracy is the highest good", Vermaut addressed WikiLeaks’ publication of Chelsea Manning’s cables.

I admire Julian Assange for his idealism. To me he is a big man. History will tell… he has let the world know the real truth about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. The so-called precision bombing that did not seem to be so precise… It is a great credit that he started working with the real sources", the commenter praised WikiLeaks’ founder, sharing his personal belief that his arrest “is not justified".

Vermaut stressed the Assange deserves “a statue instead of his arrest", and “the Nobel prize rather than imprisonment".

READ MORE: Snowden Reminds UN Called Assange's Detention Arbitrary, Violation of Rights

Addressing the issue of pro-Assange campaigning around the world, the human rights activist emphasised his certainty that the public “will be entitled to challenge this arrest, because it is very clearly politically motivated".

Picking up on his extradition concerns, Vermaut remarked that his perseverance to expose the truth “was a thorn in the eyes of the United States, who punctured their propaganda machine, because of a total transparency that he brought".

“Julian Assange's dedication is stronger than the power of a system that has lost moral leadership in the world. This is purely after trapping and the failure of this leadership", the speaker stressed, adding that European countries, equally, “should condemn this if all the statements about human rights were real".

His vision of Assange’s future doesn't seem at all positive:

“I fear that Julian Assange will spend a long time in prison and that everything will be tried to get him convicted. Yes, there are political prisoners in Europe again… who serve the Americans as lap dogs". He views the fate of freedom of expression to be at stake, as well – “everywhere in the US and Europe".

“That is the fate of human rights activists in this world. Authenticity to be truthful, to remain true to principles, is very often not rewarded in this world. It is therefore a black day for freedom of expression", Vermaut went on, arguing that the man who is a real doer, rather than speaker will “now pay the ultimate price for his courage and determination", despite the ubiquitous resistance to the arrest, which is a positive indicator, however, according to the activist.

READ MORE: Sweden Considers Resuming Sexual Assault Probe Against Assange — Reports

“This resistance is the ultimate sign that a transformation of society is imminent. We will not remain silent, we will not give censorship a chance and we will all challenge the arrest. The whole world of truth seekers will work with us", he concluded in an uplifting way.

Following Assange's detainment by UK authorities, the police confirmed that it had been made "on behalf of the United States authorities," while Wikileaks condemned Ecuador's move, stating that it illegally terminated Assange's political asylum.

Wikileaks' founder lived in the Ecuadorian embassy after being released on bail by a UK court due to facing rape accusations in Sweden. Stockholm lifted the charges in 2017, but he was still wanted by British authorities for violating the bail conditions by taking refuge in the embassy.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect Sputnik's position.

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201904111074038785-assange-nobel-prize-...

These views are shared by Gus Leonisky who thanks Julian Assange and all his supporters for having brought some truth in this world of thieves. Time for awakening the best in all of us and condemn the Ecuadorian, the UK, the US and the Australian thugs who have let Assange be entrapped because he told us the truth... A nobel Prize indeed. 

"the arrest of Julian Assange will, in the long term, do more to expose the real nature of the so-called democratic West than 100 document dumps could ever do". We hope so, but we also wish freedom for Assange now! NOW! 

Political correspondent for the UK Independent newspaper Ashley Cowburn was one of the first in with a jab, tweeting an image of Assange when he first entered the Ecuadorian Embassy alongside one taken during his arrest, with the comment “political journalists pre and post-Brexit.”

Perhaps wisely, Cowburn later deleted the tweet which UK media watchdog Media Lens called “brutal.”

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/456252-twitter-journalists-react-assange-arrest/

Read from top.

With yesterdays arrest of Julian Assange, we thought it important to remember WHY he was in the Empire’s crosshairs. The video Collateral Murder (below) is WikiLeaks’ most famous, most shocking release. Footage of US military personnel murdering civilians and journalists and laughing about it.

This is the shortened version, the full unedited footage can be found here, with notes transcripts and accompanying memos and press-releases available here.

See more:

https://off-guardian.org/2019/04/13/watch-collateral-murder/

Read from top.

Meanwhile:

“This is a major international victory, not only for these patriots, but for the rule of law,” the White House said in a statement, referring to the ICC decision to reject the request to investigate the actions of US military and intelligence officials in Afghanistan.

The US “holds American citizens to the highest legal and ethical standards,” and has consistently refused to join the ICC because of its “broad, unaccountable prosecutorial powers,” threats to US sovereignty, and “and other deficiencies that render it illegitimate,” Trump said in a statement.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/456363-victory-trump-icc-atrocities/

"The first thing to say is [that] Ecuador has been making some outrageous allegations," Assange's lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, told Sky News on Sunday following the whistleblower's arrest earlier this week. Quito made these claims to divert public attention from its own misdeeds and to "justify the unlawful and extraordinary act of letting police come inside an embassy," she added.

Earlier, Ecuadorian Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo complained about the embassy staff having to tolerate gross misconduct for far too long. The 47-year-old was specifically accused of "putting feces on the walls,"among other things. He was also alleged to have left dirty underwear in the lavatory, failed to clean dishes, and left a cooker on.

Apart from that, the embassy staff complained earlier that the WikiLeaks founder also listened to loud music and skateboarded inside the embassy hall at night – claims that make the whistleblower sound like a rowdy teenager.

Robinson dismissed all those allegations as "not true" and hit back by saying that it was the Ecuadorian authorities that eventually turned the whistleblower's life in the embassy into a sort of a solitary confinement as he was holed up for seven years.

"I've been visiting him for the last seven years. This man has been inside a room with no outside access. Inside the embassy, it has become more difficult," the lawyer said, adding that Ecuador's attitude to Assange drastically changed for the worse after its current president, Lenin Moreno, came to power.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/456493-assange-ecuador-allegations-misbehavior-l...

Read from top and read: the full assange statement... 

Why is the left blinkered to claims about Assange and sexual assault?

by Nesrine Malik

In case you’ve forgotten, or have been confused by politicians who failed to mention it, let me remind you why I believe Julian Assange was in the Ecuadorian embassy for seven years before he was ejected and arrested last week. I don’t believe it was for being a journalist or a truth-teller to power, and it wasn’t for releasing evidence of America’s war crimes. He was in the embassy because, in 2010, Sweden issued an international arrest warrant so that he might answer allegations of sexual assault and rape. Assange would not accept extradition, jumped bail in the UK and absconded.

Read more: 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/15/left-blinkered-cla...

Well, Ms Nesrine Malik, (I believe you're a right wing Guardian writer since you condemn the "left") it appears you are the one blinkered — or actually completely in the dark and thus presenting a stupid opinion. The truth? If you don't know it, you should read the full assange statement... (2016) without missing one line or a single word. You might learn something but I believe you won't because people like you are like that. They only believe what they want, not what has been.

Meanwhile:

A photo of Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno lounging in bed with a giant platter of lobster in front of him may have spurred Julian Assange’s eviction from the country’s London embassy.

The snapshot — highly embarrassing to the left-wing Moreno, whose country is reeling under financial strain — was among 200 private e-mails, texts and documents posted to the anonymous Web site INApapers.org early last month.

Moreno blamed Assange’s WikiLeaks for the publication of the damning trove, which also included other photos of the president and his wife on lavish European vacations.

In a radio interview, Moreno griped that “photos of my bedroom, what I eat and how my wife and daughters and friends dance” were leaked.

“Assange cannot lie or, much less, hack into private accounts or private phones,” Moreno raged.

WikiLeaks has denied that it was behind the leak, but the online postings seem to be the straw that broke Moreno’s back.

On Thursday, the president ended Assange’s seven-year-long asylum in the embassy, opening the door for British police officers to arrest and hold the 47-year-old political lightning rod so he can face extradition to the United States on other hacking charges.

Read more:

https://nypost.com/2019/04/14/this-photo-got-julian-assange-kicked-out-o...

A right wing paper like the New York Post would relish this story of a left-wing president, having the "life of luxury" or an orgie of one, being exposed by whatever means, leading to the expulsion of Julian Assange. 

Read from top.

The Ecuadorian leader inked a $4.2 billion loan with the IMF, after spending months claiming Correa had driven the country into historic debt.

In light of these and other measures, Moreno’s move against Assange isn’t surprising, but the timing of it is about more than just appeasing his allies.

“They want to use Julian Assange as a scapegoat to distract from the INA Papers scandal,” says Narvaez, referring to the allegations of corruption that have sullied Moreno, his family and other close associates.

The Ecuadorian president is facing a political investigation over accusations of money laundering through offshore accounts and shell companies in Panama, including the INA Investment Corp, of which Moreno’s brother was the registered owner.

Documents obtained by an opposition lawmaker, as well as damning images and documents circulating on social media that were apparently hacked from Moreno’s telephone, have irreparably tarnished his image and his credibility as anti-corruption campaigner.

Approval ratings for Moreno have since plummeted, and only 17 percent of Ecuadorians say they believe their president.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/456209-assange-ecuador-lenin-moreno/

“Witch hunts, book burnings and the Inquisition are back,” Dotcom tweeted on Thursday, hours after Assange was hauled out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London by British police.

“The persecution and arrest of Julian Assange for publishing the truth returns us to the darkest times in human history,” the internet icon continued. “This attempt to keep us from the truth will turn Julian Assange into a hero for the ages.”

https://www.rt.com/news/456245-assange-hero-kim-dotcom/

The Baywatch star unleashed a barrage of criticism at the UK, Ecuador and the US in the aftermath of Thursday’s dramatic arrest, which saw 47-year-old Assange carried out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London into a waiting police van.

https://www.rt.com/news/456243-pamela-anderson-assange-arrest-betrayal/

For those #metoo women who still harp on Julian's rape of a Swedish woman, please read: the full assange statement...

Lenin Moreno's government violated Assange's privacy by secretly recording the journalist's daily activities starting from March 2018, said a complaint submitted Monday to the attorney general's office in Ecuador on behalf of the whistleblower. It says the spying was conducted with the help of Promsecurity, a private contractor firm which administers electronic surveillance at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Naming three officials of the diplomatic mission, including Ambassador Jaime Marchán, as well as four members of Promsecurity, the complaint alleges that the government violated at least four counts of domestic law by illicitly monitoring Assange's activity. Those involved apparently tried to extort €3 million from WikiLeaks threatening to publish audio, video and personal documents of Assange unless they get paid. Ecuadorian law provides penalties of up to five years in prison for each violation mentioned in the complaint.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/457865-embassy-staff-spied-on-assange/

The US Murdered 66,000 Iraqi Civilians Yet Somehow Julian Assange Is The Bad Guy?

US-based independent outlet The Grayzone has revealed deep links between a US casino billionaire, the CIA and the Spanish security firm which spied on the WikiLeaks publisher, his friends, family and lawyers while he was under the protection of the Ecuadorian Embassy.

Max Blumenthal is an award-winning investigative journalist, author and founder of The Grayzone, an independent news outlet. He has obtained High Court documents regarding the ongoing Spanish criminal investigation into David Morales, the Ecuadorian ex-special forces member and CEO of the Spanish security firm UC Global, which was revealed to have been spying on Julian Assange, despite originally being hired to provide protection for the Ecuadorian Embassy.

The documents obtained by Blumenthal and The Grayzone have revealed previously unknown details regarding the connection between David Morales, UC Global and Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire campaign contributor to US President Donald Trump.

Sputnik: What’s new and significant about what you’ve discovered and revealed in relation to UC Global and its targeting of Julian Assange?

Max Blumenthal: What I have that's new in this investigation for The Grayzone are details of the relationship between Las Vegas Sands, the company owned by ultra-Zionist Republican mega-donor casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, the Trump administration, the CIA and UC Global.

And I show the central role of figures who are directors of Sheldon Adelson's executive security team at Las Vegas Sands in serving as middlemen, apparently between American intelligence and UC Global, including someone who worked formerly as assistant director of the secret service who was commended by the CIA for his work, Brian Nagel. And also, Zohar Lahav who is the vice president of Sheldon Adelson's executive protection team in managing David Morales on a day-to-day basis.

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202005191079352102-new-docs-reveal-link...

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