Julian Assange faces extradition to the US after he was arrested and forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London almost seven years after he sought refuge there.
Mr Assange was brought before Westminster Magistrates’ Court this afternoon.
He made a thumbs up gesture to the press gallery as he entered the court and could be seen carrying a book.
Police detained the WikiLeaks founder after the Ecuadorian government withdrew his asylum, blaming his “repeated violations” of “international conventions and daily-life protocols”.
Scotland Yard said in a statement that Assange was held for failing to appear in court in June 2012 and “further arrested on behalf of the United States authorities, at 10.53am after his arrival at a central London police station”.
In a statement, the British Home Office said:
“We can confirm that Julian Assange was arrested in relation to a provisional extradition request from the United States of America.
“He is accused in the United States of America computer related offences.”
In a tweet, Mr Assange’s lawyer Jennifer Robinson also said he had been “arrested not just for breach of bail conditions but also in relation to a US extradition request”.
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