Assange, who was accused of releasing secret documents that embarrassed the United States government, was arrested by the British police on Thursday at the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he had lived for years.

“Julian Assange, 47, has today, Thursday 11 April, been arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) at the Embassy of Ecuador, Hans Crescent, SW1 on a warrant issued by Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 29 June 2012, for failing to surrender to the court,” the Metropolitan police said in a statement.

“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.

“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.”

It is believed that the Australian native has been a resident of the embassy after Ecuador withdrew the asylum it had granted him seven years ago.

He took refuge in the embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced questions about sexual assault allegations.

But Lenin Moreno, Ecuador’s president, said it withdrew Assange’s asylum after his repeated violations to international conventions.

Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2006 as a medium where people could publish sensitive and often classified materials anonymously.

The website, however, gained huge attention in 2010 after classified documents and videos belonging to the United States on the wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq were made public.

The post Julian Assange, WikiLeaks co-founder, arrested in London appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

In an update on its website, the NCA said, “The investigation commenced in 2013 under the Proceeds of Corruption Unit, and transferred to the NCA earlier this year.”

Until recently, the Proceeds of Corruption Unit was domiciled at the Metropolitan Police Service, but after the International Corruption Unit was created at the NCA in line with the UK Anti-Corruption Plan, the Proceeds of Corruption Unit at the Metropolitan Police and the Overseas Anti-Corruption Unit of the City of London Police were scrapped.

The ICU then became the UK’s prime agency for the investigation of bribery of foreign public officials by individuals or companies from the UK, and money laundering by corrupt foreign officials and their associates.

In its update Saturday, the NCA also said it had released the former minister on “conditional bail” along with the other four unnamed persons arrested with her.

“All five people arrested were released on conditional police bail later that evening, pending further investigation both in the UK and overseas.”

Under the conditional bail, Alison-Madueke and her colleagues were barred from travelling out of the UK pending conclusion of investigation and their arraignment in court.

The suspects’ travelling documents have been seized and have been restricted to her London home pending her arraignment in court on Monday.

Follow Us

The post We placed Alison-Madueke under investigation since 2013, says UK National Crime Agency appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.