OREANDA-NEWS. A court in London sentenced the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, to 50 weeks of imprisonment for violating the conditions of release on bail, the correspondent of the Russian media reports from the courtroom. "You did not surrender to the police on their own, the Ecuadorian embassy was forced to give police access to the building. <...> You had a choice, and I reject all the arguments on mitigating punishment," said Judge Deborah Taylor, announcing the sentence. 

She added that the violation by Assange of the conditions of bail is "beyond the most serious of the charges against him." The founder of Wikileaks before the pronouncement of the verdict through lawyers expressed regret in connection with the actions that he committed.

Assange, convicted of sexual harassment and rape in Sweden in 2010, has been hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy since June 2012, fearing extradition to a Scandinavian country, which was authorized by a British court. On the morning of April 11, 2019, Assange was detained on a warrant issued in 2012 for his failure to appear in court, as well as the requirements of the authorities of Sweden and the United States. On the same day, a court in London found Assange guilty of violating the conditions for release on bail. The defendant remains in custody, Britain asked the United States to provide all the necessary documents for his extradition until June 12.

Earlier it was reported that British law enforcement officers arrested the founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange. Ecuador denied the journalist further asylum. The arrest was made on a warrant issued by the court of magistrates of Westminster on June 29, 2012. Hearings on the issue of the extradition of Assange will continue on Thursday in the Westminster Magistrates Court.