RUSSIA has brazenly accused Britain of "strangling freedom" following Julian Assange's arrest in London today.

The WikiLeaks founder, 47, was dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in handcuffs this morning after spending 2,487 days holed up in West London since 2012.

But despite killing its own people with nerve agents and poisoning political opponents, Moscow has hit out at the UK following Assange arrest.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted on Facebook: “The hand of ‘democracy’ is squeezing the throat of freedom.”

Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "We of course hope that all of his rights will be observed."

As he was pulled out in handcuffs of his hiding place for the last seven years, Assange shouted: "The UK has no stability".

Assange hasn't left the embassy since August 2012 – costing the British taxpayer more than £10m.

He feared stepping off Ecuador's diplomatic soil would see him arrested and extradited to the US for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables through WikiLeaks.

A Metropolitan Police statement said: "He has been taken into custody at a central London police station where he will remain, before being presented before Westminster Magistrates' Court as soon as is possible.

ASSANGE SAGA TIMELINE

• July 2010: Wikileaks releases some 720,000 classified military documents concerning US wars and diplomacy in Afghanistan and Iraq.
• August 2010: An arrest warrant is issued for Assange for two separate allegations – one of rape and one of molestation – after he visits Sweden. He denies the allegations after being questioned by cops in Stockholm.
• An international arrest warrant is issued by Swedish police through Interpol.
• December 2010: Assange presents himself to London police and appears at an extradition hearing where he is remanded in custody. He is granted conditional bail at a hearing but is kept behind bars after Swedish authorities challenge the decision.
• February 2011: British courts rule Assange should be extradicted to Sweden, denying this would breach his human rights.
• June 2012: The Wikileaks chief enters the Ecuadorian embassy in London, requesting political asylum. Just 24 hours later Scotland Yard confirms he will be arrested for breaching his bail conditions.
• August 2012: Ecuador officially grants Assange political asylum, allowing him to stay in the embassy – where he will remain for the next six and a half years.
• Assange makes his first public appearnce on the balcony of the embassy and calls for the US government to end its witch hunt.
• May 2017: Swedish prosecutors close their seven-year sex assault investigation, but British police say they would still arrest Assange is he leaves the embassy for breaching bail in 2012.
• April 2019: Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno says Mr Assange has "repeatedly violated" the conditions of his asylum at the embassy.
• 11 April 2019: British cops arrest Assange at the embassy after his asylum is withdrawn – dragging him screaming from the main entrance.

"The MPS had a duty to execute the warrant, on behalf of Westminster Magistrates' Court, and was invited into the embassy by the Ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum."

Home Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted: "Nearly 7yrs after entering the Ecuadorean Embassy, I can confirm Julian Assange is now in police custody and rightly facing justice in the UK. I would like to thank Ecuador for its cooperation & @metpoliceuk for its professionalism. No one is above the law."

Yesterday, Fidel Narvaez, the former Consul of Ecuador to London, said: "The Ecuadorian embassy is not protecting Assange any more.

"It is doing everything possible to end the asylum."

Source: Read Full Article