Assange gets one year in prison in London

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for violating bail conditions. This decision was made by the Royal Court of Southwark, London, reports Reuters. The judge stressed that Assange can count on early release after serving half of the term, if not commit other offenses.

Assange violated the conditions of release seven years ago when he took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy and has been hiding there from British law enforcement agencies all these years, Reuters notes. In April, the Latin American country deprived the founder of WikiLeaks of refuge, after which Assange was accused of leaking classified information in the United States. The US authorities believe that Assange entered into a conspiracy with a US Army officer Chelsea Manning, and seek his extradition. The extradition issue will be considered by the London court on May 2.

In addition, the journalist was accused of sexual harassment and rape in Sweden, but in 2017 the authorities declared that the investigation into the case was stopped. Assange argued that the case in Sweden was only a pretext for his arrest and subsequent extradition to the United States.

source: reuters.com