London is “very grateful” to Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno for laying the groundwork to Julian Assange’s arrest, the UK Foreign Office has said, expressing hope that the ties between the two countries will now thrive.
“We are very grateful to the Government of Ecuador under President Moreno for the action they have taken,” said Alan Duncan, minister of state for Europe and the Americas. Thursday’s arrest, in which police officers entered the Ecuadorian embassy to drag Assange out, comes after “extensive dialogue between our two countries.”
Assange was taken into custody at a central London police station on Thursday, and will be presented to the Westminster Magistrates’ Court later in the day. An exclusive video by Ruptly video agency showed him pleading that “the UK must resist… this attempt by the Trump administration.”
Assange has been “arrested on behalf of the United States authorities after his arrival at a central London police station,”the Metropolitan Police confirmed. The US cited the Extradition Act while filing the request, they told.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice said that the whistleblower faces of up to five years in prison.