Julian Assange sentenced to 50 weeks in British prison

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks — who took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012, to avoid being extradited to Sweden on sexual assault charges — has been sentenced to 50 weeks in jail, just under the maximum possible sentence of 12 months for flouting bail conditions, by a court in London.

The sentence comes ahead of a hearing due to take place later this week at the Westminster Magistrates Court as part of efforts to extradite him to the US.

During the sentencing hearing at the Southwark Crown Court, Judge Deborah Taylor rejected arguments by defence barrister Mark Summers (who led the prosecution team in the Vijay Mallya extradition proceedings) that Assange had been gripped by a “well-founded” fear of potential extradition to the US — and hence on to Guantanamo Bay — when he sought refuge in the Embassy in 2012.