US whistleblower Edward Snowden has warned the arrest of Julian Assange is a ‘dark moment for press freedom’.
WikiLeaks founder Assange, 47, was arrested by police in London this morning after Ecuador dramatically withdrew his political asylum seven years after he first entered the embassy.
Soon after his arrest, Snowden tweeted: ‘Images of Ecuador’s ambassador inviting the UK’s secret police into the embassy to drag a publisher of-like it or not-award-winning journalism out of the building are going to end up in the history books.
‘Assange’s critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom.’
Scroll down for video
Snowden tweeted shortly after Assange’s arrest to say the incident was a ‘dark moment for press freedom’
The former FBI systems analyst is himself accused of leaking classified information and is currently in hiding in Russia
Snowden is currently living in exile Russia having fled the US after leaking a huge cache of declassified documents back in 2013.
The Former CIA agent has been a longstanding supporter of Assange’s cause having allegedly been helped by the WikiLeaks founder in handing over the secret documents to journalists.
Assange, who has overseen the publication of thousands of classified military and diplomatic cables through WikiLeaks, is currently in custody and is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court ‘as soon as possible’.
He was filmed being dragged kicking and screaming from the embassy building in Knightsbridge sporting a scruffy beard and unkempt hair.
Julian Assange was arrested on Thursday morning at the Ecuadorian embassy in London
Assange’s arrest this morning came as Ecuador suddenly terminated his political asylum
He has not left Ecuador’s diplomatic soil since 2012, when the country offered diplomatic protection from allegations of sexual assault in Sweden.
While the case was eventually dropped, Assange has always feared extradition to the US, where his lawyers have claimed he could face the death penalty for the leaking of highly-classified documents.
In a statement today, Ecuador’s president added that he had asked Britain to guarantee that Assange would not be extradited to any country where he could face torture or the death penalty.
The news of his arrest was immediately confirmed by Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Twitter, who said that ‘no one was above the law’.
An armed officer outside the Ecuadorian Embassy today as police were called in to arrest Assange
Assange has been living in the Ecuadorean embassy for the past seven years. Pictured: The WikiLeaks founder speaking from the building’s balcony in 2017