Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was sentenced to nearly a year in jail for skipping bail as he prepares to fight extradition to the U.S.
Judge Deborah Taylor at a London court hearing Wednesday sentenced him to 50 weeks in jail, saying he deliberately evaded justice.“I found myself struggling with terrifying circumstances,” Assange said in a letter read out by his lawyer. “I did what I thought at the time was the best or perhaps the only thing that I thought could be done.”
The U.K. hearing took place hours before U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who has ultimate oversight of the Assange indictment, is set to testify before Senate and House panels on Robert Mueller’s Russia report. Lawmakers will press him to reconcile his findings with those of the special counsel.