‘A British court sentenced WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to 50 weeks for skipping bail. The activist also faces a court hearing on extradition to Washington where he is wanted for “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.”
The Southwark Crown Court in London on Wednesday sentenced Assange to almost a year for “violating bail conditions.” Last month, he was formally convicted of skipping bail in the UK in 2012 when he was wanted over a rape allegation in Sweden (the case was later dropped).
Assange was arrested on April 11 when he was evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after claiming asylum there for several years out of fear that the British authorities would hand him over to Washington.
In the US, he is charged with “conspiracy” after working with Chelsea Manning, the whistleblower who obtained classified documents that were subsequently published through WikiLeaks.
Over the years, WikiLeaks published material on the conduct of US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well American diplomatic correspondence. This included a video from Baghdad showing US troops killing civilians.
US officials blasted Assange for revealing the classified information. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called WikiLeaks “a non-state hostile intelligence service” in 2017, when he was the head of the CIA.’
