London: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Wednesday was sentenced to 50 weeks in a British prison for skipping bail to avoid being sent to Sweden over sexual assault allegations.
Southwark Crown Court in South London sentenced Assange up to a year in a British prison for his bail violation, marking the maximum penalty for such an offence, The Washington Post reported.
Assange violated his bail conditions in 2012 when he fled to the Ecuadoran Embassy in London after Sweden requested his extradition in a case involving sexual assault allegations.
At the trial, Assange's lawyer Mark Summers told the court that Assange failed to surrender to a British court seven years ago and so violated his bail because he feared for being extradited to Sweden. He may also be extradited further to the United States and even sent to Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the lawyer added.
Assange, who feared that the United States might "kidnap" him, was already "living under overwhelming fear of rendition," Summers told the court.
He added, "It matters little whether his fears were reasonable or unreasonable," suggesting that those fears were, in fact, reasonable.
Summers then read aloud a handwritten letter in which Assange wrote, "I apologise unreservedly" for seeking refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy.
