The Department of Justice on Thursday announced a criminal charge against Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange, accusing him of conspiring to hack into a classified U.S. government computer.
“The charge relates to Assange’s alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States,” the Justice Department said in a press release.
The announcement followed an extradition request by the U.S. for Assange, 47, who on Thursday morning was forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has lived for nearly seven years.
Assange faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted.
Read the full indictment against Assange here:
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