WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Jailed For Bail Norm Breach

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Jailed For Bail Norm Breach

London: A British court on Wednesday sentenced WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to 50 weeks in prison for violating bail conditions in 2012 to avoid a Swedish extradition request. Julian Assange appeared at the Southwark Crown Court in London where he was sentenced to serve the prison term. He was already declared guilty of the offence on April 11, the day he was arrested after spending seven years holed up at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He took refuge in the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over sexual assault allegations, which he has denied. In a letter read to the court, Assange said he had found himself “struggling with difficult circumstances”, according to the BBC. He apologised to those who “consider I’ve disrespected them”, a packed Southwark Crown Court heard. “I did what I thought at the time was the best or perhaps the only thing that I could have done,” he said. In sentencing him, Judge Deborah Taylor told Julian Assange it was difficult to envisage a more serious example of the offence. “By hiding in the embassy you deliberately put yourself out of reach, while remaining in the UK,” she said. As Assange was taken to the cell, he raised a fist in defiance to his supporters in the public gallery. (IANS)

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