A London court has sentenced WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to 50 weeks in prison for jumping bail seven years ago when he took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy.

Assange entered the embassy in 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden to face allegations of sexual assault.

Sweden eventually dropped the assault investigation, but Assange remained at the embassy, fearing that if he walked out Britain, would detain and then extradite him to the U.S in connection with WikiLeaks publication of classified U.S. government documents.

Last month, after Ecuadaor revoked his political asylum, he was arrested by British police.

The U.S., which is seeking Assange’s extradition, has charged him in a computer hacking conspiracy linked to the release of hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. documents.
…