As the world digests the shock news that Julian Assange is in custody in Britain after Ecuador withdrew asylum from the WikiLeaks founder, Pamela Anderson, a staunch supporter of the Australian, has let her feelings be known.

The Baywatch star unleashed a barrage of criticism at the UK, Ecuador and the US in the aftermath of Thursday’s dramatic arrest, which saw 47-year-old Assange carried out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London into a waiting police van.

Assange, who was in the embassy for nearly seven years, was arrested for failing to surrender to the court and also on an extradition warrant on behalf of US authorities.

READ MORE: Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal

In an extraordinary series of tweets, Anderson branded the UK “America’s bitch” and implied that it had used the arrest as a diversion from Brexit.

“And the USA? This toxic coward of a President. He needs to rally his base? You are selfish and cruel. You have taken the entire world backwards,” she added.

The 51-year-old actress also expressed concern for Assange’s wellbeing, saying “he looks very bad.”

Anderson has made no secret of her admiration for Assange, previously describing the whistleblower as “one of the most important people living.”

“He’s not close to people like he is to me. I have a real personal relationship with him. He’s just one of my favorite people,” the 51-year old said when asked about a rumored romantic involvement with Assange.

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A London judge has found Julian Assange guilty of failing to surrender to bail in 2012. The WikiLeaks founder will now be sentenced on May 2.

Assange had pleaded not guilty to the charge, which stems from the time he sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in 2012, avoiding extradition to Sweden for a sexual assault investigation. Although Swedish authorities dropped the charge in 2017, Assange remained wanted by Britain for breaching the terms of his original bail.

The WikiLeaks chief faces 12 months in prison for failing to surrender, and will be sentenced via video link on May 2.

Separate from the British charge, Assange is also wanted for extradition by the United States. Although Washington quietly requested his extradition in 2016, the US Justice Department announced conspiracy charges against Assange on Thursday, stemming from his role in publishing classified military documents leaked by US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010.

Assange faces a “federal charge of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for agreeing to break a password to a classified U.S. government computer,” according to the Justice Department. Rather than actually hacking into government networks himself, Assange is merely accused of encouraging Manning to do so.

The British judge said on Thursday that the US must produce its case for Assange’s extradition by June 12.

His alleged crimes fall under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, rather than the Espionage Act. However, activists have warned that the US government may attempt to tack on additional charges to punish Assange.

The document haul leaked by Manning in 2010 was one of the largest compromises of classified information in US history, and included video footage of alleged US war crimes.

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been taken to Westminster Magistrates Court after his arrest at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Photos of the whistleblower defiantly gesturing in a police van have emerged in the media.

UPDATE: Assange pleads not guilty to failing to surrender to bail

Journalist flocked to the white police van carrying the whistleblower into the courthouse. With his hair tied back and sporting a full-length white beard, Assange offered cameras a hardy thumbs up with a wink.

Assange stepped into the courtroom wearing a dark polo shirt and quietly read his Gore Vidal book while he waited for his lawyers to arrive.

READ MORE: Assange arrest final step in character assassination campaign – Slavoj Zizek

Earlier, Metropolitan Police said in a statement that they arrested Assange on a warrant issued by the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June 2012, for failing to surrender to the court. The police were “invited into the embassy by the Ambassador,” it said.

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US-backed Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno reneged on asylum agreements made with naturalized citizen Julian Assange, leading to his arrest on Thursday, but how exactly did relations with the whistleblower end up here?

Moreno won a narrow victory in 2017 to become president of Ecuador, having served as vice president under his predecessor Rafael Correa from 2007 to 2013 as part of the center-left PAIS Alliance. Much like Assange, Moreno was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012, for championing the rights of the disabled (he is the only world leader who uses a wheelchair).

When he rose to power Moreno quickly locked horns with Assange, eventually revoking his internet access in March 2018 while also reducing the security detail at the embassy as a result of their ongoing spat. Moreno alleged that Assange had installed electronic distortion equipment in addition to blocking security cameras at the embassy. Their deteriorating relationship culminated in Moreno’s withdrawal of asylum granted to the whistleblower on April 11, 2019.

READ MORE: Exposing ‘collateral murder’ and mass surveillance: Why the world should be grateful to Assange

“Today I announce that the discourteous and aggressive behavior of Mr Julian Assange; the hostile and threatening declarations of his allied organization against Ecuador, and especially the transgression of international treaties, have led the situation to a point where the asylum of Mr Assange is unsustainable and no longer viable,” Moreno said in a video statement shortly after Assange’s arrest.

The writing had been on the wall for a long time, however.

Following his 2017 election, Moreno quickly moved away from his election platform after taking office. He reversed several key pieces of legislation passed under his predecessor which targeted the wealthy and the banks. He also reversed a referendum decision on indefinite re-election while simultaneously blocking any potential for Correa to return.

He effectively purged many of Correa’s appointments to key positions in Ecuador’s judiciary and National Electoral Council via the CPCCS-T council which boasts supra-constitutional powers.

Moreno has also cozied up to the US, with whom Ecuador had a strained relationship under Correa. Following a visit from Vice President Mike Pence in June 2018, Ecuador bolstered its security cooperation with the US, including major arms deals, training exercises and intelligence sharing.

Following Assange’s arrest Correa, who granted Assange asylum in the first place, described Moreno as the “greatest traitor in Ecuadorian and Latin American history” saying he was guilty of a “crime that humanity will never forget.”

READ MORE: ‘Greatest traitor in Ecuadorian history’: Ex-President Correa slams Moreno over Assange’s arrest

Despite his overwhelming power and influence, however, Moreno and his family are the subject of a sweeping corruption probe in the country, as he faces down accusations of money laundering in offshore accounts and shell companies in Panama, including the INA Investment Corp, which is owned by Moreno’s brother.  

Damning images, purportedly hacked from Moreno’s phone, have irreparably damaged both his attempts at establishing himself as an anti-corruption champion as well as his relationship with Assange, whom he accused of coordinating the hacking efforts.

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While Facebook claims to have deleted thousands of pages to prevent meddling in the Indian elections, the American company’s selective deletions have led at least one man to ask: Who is watching the election watchers?

A little over a week ahead of the beginning of elections in India this Thursday, Facebook raised some eyebrows when it announced that it had removed a number of politically oriented pages as a part of its “election integrity” efforts. The social media giant removed 138 pro-opposition pages that had over 200,000 followers for “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” While they only removed 15 pro-government pages, as it turned out, those pages had a far wider reach with millions of likes.

Given the apparent imbalance, it is all the more concerning that the purge was conducted with assistance from the US-based Atlantic Council, a think tank that receives millions of dollars in funding from the US State Department and NATO allies.

Indian defense analyst and security expert Abhijit Iyer-Mitra is one of the people extremely concerned with the impact the American private company could have on India’s elections. He has even filed a criminal complaint with police in New Delhi, describing Facebook’s actions as an act of war, and an attack on the country’s sovereignty.

Speaking to RT, Iyer-Mitra blasted the social network for their glaring double standards: while making extensive efforts to protect American elections from foreign actors in the wake of the alleged “Russian meddling” scandal, the company seemingly had no qualms about letting a state-department-linked think tank act in place of Indian election officials.

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was earlier evicted from the Ecuadorian Embassy and arrested by British police, should be treated properly, a Kremlin spokesman has said.

“Undoubtedly, we hope that all his rights will be respected,” Dmitry Peskov told journalists when asked if Russia could grant asylum to Julian Assange. Earlier in the day, the WikiLeaks founder was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and arrested by Met Police.

READ MORE: Julian Assange arrested after Ecuador tears up asylum deal

Simultaneously, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno proclaimed that he had withdrawn political asylum for Assange, citing alleged violation of international norms and misconduct at the embassy. He said the UK should ensure that he is not extradited to a country where he may face inhumane treatment or capital punishment.

Some observers, however, said the carefully worded statement by Moreno does not rule out Assange being extradited to the US.

Meanwhile, WikiLeaks itself blamed “powerful actors,” such as the CIA, for running a “sophisticated” campaign to scapegoat Assange.

UK authorities welcomed the news. Assange was “no hero and no one is above the law. He has hidden from the truth for years,” Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has tweeted.

Meanwhile, former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa (who granted asylum to Assange) labeled Moreno a ‘traitor’ following the arrest.

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Ecuador’s former president Rafael Correa has slammed his successor Lenin Moreno for “allowing” police to arrest Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, calling the action “a crime humanity will never forget.”

Whereas the former Ecuadorian leader has been highly critical of his one-time political ally for a long while, Thursday’s arrest of Wikileaks co-founder and editor was a betrayal of a higher order, it has been suggested.

Tweeting shortly after the arrest, which saw a white bearded Assange being dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy by several men and stuffed into a police car, Correa said that things had gotten far more serious than Moreno’s alleged corruption.

The harsh words didn’t stop there. After Moreno announced that he had made a “sovereign decision” in giving Assange to British police, Correa responded by calling the decision a “scoundrelly,” “cowardly” and “heinous” act which is the “fruit of servility, vileness and vengeance.”

Correa initially offered Assange asylum while still president in 2012, fearing the whistleblower would face the death penalty if extradited to America, where he was wanted for espionage.

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Julian Assange’s arrest was not a sudden development, cultural philosopher Slavoj Zizek told RT. Instead it was well planned and the final step in a long and ugly smear campaign against the WikiLeaks founder.

After sheltering in London’s Ecuadorian embassy for six years, Assange was dragged out of the building by British police on Thursday morning. The arrest comes after Ecuador’s new pro-US president withdrew Assange’s asylum claim, and after WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson claimed that an extensive spying campaign was conducted against Assange, designed to get him out.

“I was not surprised,” Zizek told RT. “The problem for me is how people will simply accept this as the result of the long, systematic, character assassination campaign.”

The first step in the campaign, Zizek said, was to connect WikiLeaks – an independent journalistic outlet known for leaking classified materials, which also prides itself on having never published false information – with Russia and Vladimir Putin. The next step was “character assassination.” Assange, Zizek said, was painted as “arrogant,” “paranoid,” and even a rapist, despite Swedish authorities dropping all charges against him in 2017.

Then the gossip against Assange sank to an “incredibly dirty personal level, that he doesn’t clean his toilet, that he smells bad and so on. Can we imagine anything lower?” WikiLeaks has argued the same, calling Assange the victim of “a sophisticated effort to dehumanize, delegitimize and imprison him.”

Assange’s arrest, Zizek continued, has “nothing to do with vengeance.” Rather, the WikiLeaks head was made an example of in the ongoing fight to clamp down on the free flow of information. Just like the European Union’s new copyright directive threatens to censor almost all free expression online, neutering organizations like Wikileaks is a step towards controlling what information we can and cannot access.

“All our lives today are somehow regulated through digital media,” he said. “So it’s absolutely crucial who controls this digital media. This is the greatest threat to our freedom.”

“We are not even aware of it as we don’t experience it as unfreedom. It’s not like the old days of the police state, where you look over your shoulder and see a man following you. You feel totally free, but your every move is registered and you’re subtly manipulated.”

“Wikileaks embodied resistance to this,” Zizek added.

Assange’s lawyer Jen Robinson confirmed on Thursday that Assange’s arrest was made in relation to a US extradition request. Assange is accused of conspiring with US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning – herself currently behind bars in Virginia for refusing to testify against WikiLeaks – to leak classified footage of US military war crimes in 2010. This footage showed a US Apache helicopter gunship opening fire on and killing 12 people, including two Reuters staff.

“I wouldn’t blame Ecuador too much,” Zizek concluded. “Ecuador was under terrible pressure from the United States. Forget about these B-level countries. This is all about the United States.”

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Fellow whistleblower Edward Snowden has responded to the arrest of Julian Assange in London, tweeting that the images of Ecuadorian authorities handing him over to UK police were a “dark moment for press freedom.”

In the tweet, Snowden said the images of a publisher of “award-winning journalism” being dragged out of the embassy would “end up in the history books.”

“Assange’s critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom,” he wrote.

Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Thursday morning, just days after WikiLeaks had said his removal from the building was imminent following a withdrawal of asylum from Quito.

The whistleblower, who has released hundreds of thousands of authentic documents and diplomatic cables, had been living in exile at the embassy for the last 6 years.

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Ecuador’s Foreign Minister has announced that the country has suspended Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s Ecuadorean citizenship, which he was granted at the end of 2017.

Ecuador has stripped Julian Assange of Ecuadorean citizenship, foreign minister Jose Valencia said on Thursday, after Ecuador withdrew his political asylum in its London embassy.

Assange, an Australia native, held Ecuadorian citizenship since 2017.

Meanwhile, Marise Payne, foreign minister of Assange’s home country, said he will continue to receive “the usual consular support from the Australian Government.” Consular officers will seek to visit Assange at his place of detention.

Separately, the Latin American country’s interior minister accused Assange and WikiLeaks of intervening in Ecuadorean affairs. He said “people close to him, including two Russian hackers,” are living in Ecuador.

The Metropolitan Police forcibly removed the 47-year-old WikiLeaks founder from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and arrested him, after president Lenin Moreno said his country took “a sovereign decision” to withdraw political asylum.

WikiLeaks said the Ecuadorian government’s actions were in violation of international law. In turn, the former president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, called Moreno “the greatest traitor in Ecuadorian and Latin American history.”

The arrest was welcomed by the UK government, despite public criticism. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow hoped that Assange’s rights would not be violated. A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the UK of strangling freedom.

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