In 2012, Julian Assange applied for asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, which was an attempt to avoid extradition by the Swedish authorities to be questioned sexual assault allegations. This meant that, among other things, he skipped bail with the U.K. authorities. Swedish authorities eventually dropped the case, and Ecuador granted him citizenship, but the problem of Assange’s bail-skipping warrant remains. And it’s about to become more intense, as the U.K. has denied Assange’s petition to throw out the warrant.
The BBC reports that Assange, who had filed to have the warrant struck down because it had “lost its purpose,” was essentially told that, no, skipping bail is skipping bail, regardless of whether or not the charges are eventually dropped. Assange is currently trying to claim that he is not, in fact, in trouble:
Wall to wall fake news stating stating the government won today's hearing. Nothing of the sort has happened. The hearing is still happening. Only one point has been ruled on. https://t.co/8UAUQV0hNi
— Defend Assange Campaign (@DefendAssange) February 6, 2018
Assange’s basic problem is, well, he did actually skip bail. However, this is a fairly minor crime, with a maximum penalty of three months and some fines. The real concern for Assange is that once he’s out of the embassy, he might get arrested for a host of other problems. At the time he went and hid in a cupboard, Assange claimed that the U.S. had a “secret” warrant out for him and that Sweden would extradite him, something foreign policy experts considered unlikely. Six years later, however, the U.S. might be preparing charges, and Robert Mueller would likely want to depose him over allegations of Wikileaks’ involvement in leaking Russian emails. So even if Assange can walk out the front door of the Ecuadorian embassy, his problems are far from over.
(via The BBC)