The long-overdue arrest of Wiki-Leaks founder Julian Assange paves the way for him to face serious charges of an altogether more grave nature. He is now wanted by Sweden and the United States of America.

The charge sheet is quite colourful. In Sweden, he is being accused of sexually assaulting two women. 

He is claiming the encounters were consensual and the investigation was dropped. Earlier this year, the US Justice Department secretly filed criminal charges against him relating to his alleged involvement in leaking damaging details of Hillary Clinton’s e-mails during the 2016 presidential election.

The US authorities are convinced the material released by Assange – acquired by Russian computer hackers who leaked it to WikiLeaks for publication – strongly damaged Clinton’s chances of beating Donald Trump and prevented her from being the first woman US President.

If it is proven that Assange conspired to commit computer intrusion and disclosed sensitive government files, he may face up to 12 months for UK charges and up to five years imprisonment in the US.

Obsessed with suspicions about possible Russian collusion in Trump’s election victory, Assange will surely have some very serious questions to answer if the US are successful with their request for his extradition.

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