Julian Assange sentenced to 50 weeks in British jail for skipping bail

Assange made headlines after WikiLeaks published classified US military video showing 2007 attack in Baghdad


Reuters May 01, 2019
PHOTO: REUTERS

LONDON: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was sentenced by a London court on Wednesday to 50 weeks in jail for skipping bail.

Assange broke bail to enter the Ecuadorean embassy almost seven years ago.

He was dragged out of the embassy last month and charged by the United States for one of the biggest ever leaks of classified information.

Judge Deborah Taylor said Assange had exploited his privileged position to flout the law and express his disdain for British justice.

Just hours after Assange was removed from the Ecuadorean embassy on April 11, US prosecutors said they had charged Assange with conspiracy in trying to access a classified US government computer with Manning in 2010.

WikiLeaks angered Washington by publishing hundreds of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables that laid bare often highly critical US appraisals of world leaders, from Russian President Vladimir Putin to members of the Saudi royal family.

Assange made international headlines in early 2010 when WikiLeaks published a classified US military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff.

To some, Assange is a hero for exposing what supporters cast as abuse of power by modern states and for championing free speech.

But to others, he is a dangerous rebel who has undermined US security.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ