Russian President’s Spokesperson says Julian Assange’s arrest does not comply with idea of freedom of media

The arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange runs counter to the idea of freedom of the media, - Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding Moscow expected that his legitimate rights would be respected.

"In fact, Wikileaks is an independent source of information that is being persecuted," Peskov said. "Certainly, from our standpoint, it runs totally counter to the idea of freedom of the media and the media’s immunity," he said. "This is why we expect that all of Assange’s legitimate rights will be respected," the Kremlin spokesman added.

Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London yesterday. Julian Assange took refuge in the embassy seven years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault case that has since been dropped.