Julian Assange sentenced to 50 weeks in jail for jumping bail in UK

A British court sentenced WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange to 50 weeks in jail for skipping bail. Assange also faces a court hearing on extradition to the US 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 brought to court in a police van, with dark tinted windows, which was immediately swarmed by reporters who tried to snatch a picture of the high-profile detainee.

Judge Deborah Taylor said the whistleblower had used bail to escape the law and expressed disdain for British justice.

But in a letter to the court, Assange explained that he was “struggling with circumstances” when he did so.

I did what I thought at the time was the best or perhaps the only thing that I could have done.

The whistleblower also apologized to all who “consider I’ve disrespected them.”

WikiLeaks slammed the sentence as “shocking” and “vindictive,” adding that they have “grave concerns” as to whether Assange will get a fair extradition hearing, scheduled for Thursday.

Assange was arrested on April 11 after, resisting and yelling, he was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. He had claimed 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.

Assange’s supporters hail him for championing free speech and exposing what they call abuse of power by various governments. Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, blasted Assange’s arrest, commending the journalist for “bringing to light… human rights violations” by the US.

The executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Trevor Timm, called the charges levelled against the whistleblower in the US “a serious press freedom threat” that “should be vigorously protested.” The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists also weighed in, saying it was “deeply concerned” with the prosecution and warning that the conspiracy charges against Assange “could set a dangerous precedent.”

US officials, meanwhile, blasted Assange for revealing 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.

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