Julian Assange latest: Swedish software developer 'with links to WikiLeaks founder' arrested in Ecuador

Julian Assange was arrested on Thursday
EPA
Jacob Jarvis12 April 2019

A software developer said to have links to Julian Assange has been arrested in Ecuador, officials in the country said.

Ecuador's interior minister Maria Paula Romo confirmed a man was arrested for allegedly conspiring against the country's government as he tried to board a flight to Japan.

Authorities are looking into whether the detainee, who has been named as Swedish computer expert Ola Bini, was part of a possible effort by Assange and Wikileaks to blackmail President Lenin Moreno.

Friends of Bini have described him as a soft-spoken geek and in a blog, a Swedish man by the same name describes himself as a software developer working in Quito for the Center for Digital Autonomy.

Julian Assange - In pictures

1/23

Prior to his arrest, Bini took to Twitter to call claims by the Interior Minister that Russian hackers and someone close to Wikileaks were working inside Ecuador "very worrisome" news.

"This seems like a witch hunt to me," Bini wrote.

No charges have been brought against him as yet.

Vijay Prashad, who runs a Marxist publishing house based in India and considers himself a close friend of Bini, said the man was "the last person who would ever be involved in an attempt overthrow a government".

The arrest comes after the Met police dragged WikiLeaks founder Assange out of Ecuador's embassy on Thursday after his near seven-year asylum was revoked.

This has paved the way for a possible extradition to the US where he could face decades in prison if more charges are brought against him.

Extraordinary footage showed Assange ranting and struggling as he was carried out to a waiting van, before he was taken to Westminster Magistrates' Court.

There he was found guilty of breaching bail and faces up to a year long sentence from the UK for that.

He is facing extradition to the US on charges of conspiring to break into a classified government computer and this could attract a maximum jail sentence of five years, the US Department of Justice said.

Assange is expected to face dozens more charges once he arrives in the country, including espionage, which can carry a 20-year sentence.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in