Assange's refuge in Ecuadorian embassy 'in jeopardy'
London, May 25: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's nearly six-year refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London is "in jeopardy" as he faces possible arrest by British authorities and subsequent extradition to the US, a media report said.
Assange has in the past claimed his position in the embassy was under threat but his current situation is "unusually bad" and he could leave the embassy "any day now", informed sources told CNN on Thursday.
"He will be forced out or made to feel so restricted that he might choose to leave on his own," the sources said.
Earlier this year, the Ecuadorian government cut off Assange's access to the internet, making it virtually impossible for him to manage WikiLeaks.
He has also had his access to visitors severely restricted. Assange is now only allowed to see his lawyers, who said their phones are jammed while they are inside the embassy.
British authorities have said that they would issue a warrant for Assange's arrest if he were to leave the embassy, CNN reported.
He faces charges in the UK for breach of bail for failing to surrender for extradition to Sweden, despite the fact that Sweden stopped investigating an allegation of rape against Assange in 2017.
Swedish prosecutors however, maintain the right to resume the investigation if Assange leaves the embassy.
The US has prepared charges to seek the arrest of Assange, who US intelligence agencies believe Russia used as an intermediary to distribute hacked emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign during the 2016 presidential election.
Ecuador's President, Lenin Moreno, is under increasing pressure from the US to expel Assange.
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ED arrests Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora in fresh PMLA case
New Delhi/Chandigarh (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday arrested Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora in a fresh money laundering case against him and some entities allegedly linked to him, officials said.
Arora was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after raids were conducted at his official residence in Chandigarh since early morning, they added.
Officials claimed Arora (62) was "non-cooperative" during the probe. He is expected to be produced before a local court on Saturday, where the agency will seek his custody for a detailed interrogation.
The ED carried out the searches at five premises across north India as part of the action.
The raids also covered two premises in Delhi and that of a company named Hampton Sky Realty Ltd in Gurugram's Udyog Vihar.
The searches were launched after the central agency registered a fresh case under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said.
