NEW: The U.S. Justice Department has charged WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with conspiring with Chelsea Manning to break into a classified government computer
Julian Assange is appearing in a London court as it considers a U.S. extradition request on criminal charges over the publication of tens of thousands of secret government documents.
The charge was announced Thursday after Assange was taken into custody in London in connection with a U.S. extradition request, as well as for breaching U.K. bail conditions in 2012.The indictment accuses Assange of assisting Manning, a former U.S. intelligence analyst, in cracking a password that helped Manning infiltrate Pentagon computers.
Assange is expected to appear at Westminster Magistrates court later Thursday on allegations of breaching bail conditions dating to 2012, and on extradition charges to the United States.A U.S. official says the Justice Department is preparing to announce charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.The exact nature of the charges was not immediately known.
Scotland Yard said in a statement Thursday that Assange was"further arrested on behalf of the United States authorities, at 10:53hrs after his arrival at a central London police station. This is an extradition warrant under Section 73 of the Extradition Act." She says it is the German government's"duty" now to prevent Britain, which earlier Thursday was granted an extension to its departure from the European Union, from extraditing Assange to the U.S.,"where he faces life imprisonment or even the death penalty for exposing U.S. war crimes.
In a statement Thursday, Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi said:"We are aware of the reports that Julian Assange was taken into custody by United Kingdom authorities."The Swedish woman who alleged that she was raped by Julian Assange during a visit to Stockholm in 2010 has welcomed his arrest in London.
In a tweet, the organization posted a photo of Assange with the words:"This man is a son, a father, a brother. He has won dozens of journalism awards. He's been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize every year since 2010. Powerful actors, including CIA, are engaged in a sophisticated effort to dehumanise, delegitimize and imprison him. #ProtectJulian."Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman says Russia wants Julian Assange's rights to be observed following his arrest.
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