Jeremy Corbyn has triggered a fresh Labour row after calling on the Government to block Julian Assange’s extradition to the US.
The Labour leader argued the alleged hacker should not be sent to the US to face charges over WikiLeaks.
Mr Corbyn said: “The extradition...for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan should be opposed by the British Government.”
Baywatch star and Assange backer Pamela Anderson retweeted him.
Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott added: “Just as in the end we blocked the extradition of [computer hacker] Gary McKinnon, we should block the extradition of Assange.”
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Assange spent nearly seven years in Ecuador’s embassy in London.
He sought asylum over extradition to Sweden, where he was wanted for two sex allegations.
An inquiry into rape, which 47-year-old Assange denies, was dropped by investigators in 2017 but may now be reopened.
Mr Corbyn’s intervention sparked an angry reaction from his own MPs.
Jess Phillips said: “The fact that Assange has evaded charges of sexual violence and skipped bail should be opposed by the Labour Party.”
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Labour MP Pat McFadden said: “Assange should be subject to the law the same as anyone else, whether in the UK, Sweden or the United States.”
US President Donald Trump said he knew “nothing about WikiLeaks”, despite it releasing emails during the 2016 election that hurt Hillary Clinton.
Assange faces up to a year in a UK jail over bail breaches. And he faces a five-year prison term in the US.
