British Judge To Rule On Bail For WikiLeaks' Assange

 
LONDON (Reuters) - A British judge will rule on Thursday whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has angered Washington by publishing secret diplomatic cables, may be freed on bail over alleged sex crimes in Sweden.
High Court Justice Duncan Ouseley must decide whether to confirm or overturn a lower court's ruling that the 39-year-old Australian could be freed on 200,000 pounds ($317,000) bail, under stringent conditions.
WikiLeaks has provoked U.S. fury by publishing part of a trove of 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables, including details of overseas sites that Washington regards as vital to its security.
Assange is fighting attempts to extradite him to Sweden for questioning over allegations of sexual misconduct made by two female WikiLeaks volunteers, which he denies.
Within hours of Senior District Judge Howard Riddle's decision on Tuesday to grant Assange bail, prosecutors gave notice they would appeal, forcing him to return to prison.
He was pictured giving a defiant victory sign as he arrived at court for Thursday's hearing in the back of a police van.
"I'm hopeful (he will get bail) but it's the judge's decision. The arguments are the same as the other day when ... he was granted bail," Mark Stephens, one of Assange's lawyers, told reporters outside court.
He said the 200,000 pound cash bond the court had required as a bail condition should be available if needed after being raised by supporters.
Other bail conditions set by Riddle stipulate that Assange must stay at a country house in eastern England owned by a supporter, report to police daily and wear an electronic tag.
Prosecution lawyer Gemma Lindfield argued in court this week that Assange was a "significant flight risk" and that no conditions set by the court could prevent him absconding.
There was some confusion over whether Britain or Sweden was behind the bid to deny him bail. A spokeswoman for Sweden's prosecution authority said the case was in British hands.
Britain's Director of Public Prosecutions told BBC radio they had been acting as the agents for the Swedish government but declined to comment on the specifics of the case.
A full extradition hearing is expected in early February.
CELEBRITY BACKING
The media, a curious public and Assange supporters, including celebrities such as journalist John Pilger, film director Ken Loach and socialite Jemima Khan, are again expected to pack the courtroom for the hearing, which starts at 1130 GMT.
Internet activists have targeted websites of organisations they believe have obstructed WikiLeaks, including Visa, MasterCard and the Swedish prosecutor's office, whose website was out of action for 12 hours on Tuesday night.
Britain's Sky News said it had been in touch with a spokesman from "Anonymous", a loose group of activists, who said their pool of targets was limited and would not include the media.
"We are going after the agencies that were directly involved in the censorship of WikiLeaks," said the spokesman, who called himself "Bass". "They include PayPal who cut off service and withheld funds. The same with Visa and MasterCard, then Amazon who cut off their service support."
Assange and his lawyers have voiced fears that U.S. prosecutors might be preparing to indict him for espionage over WikiLeaks' publication of the documents.
The New York Times reported that federal prosecutors were looking for evidence that Assange had conspired with a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst suspected of leaking classified documents in order to bring charges against him.
Legal experts say that, in the event that the United States did prosecute him, it would be easier to extradite him from Britain -- which has a fast-track extradition treaty with Washington -- than from Sweden.
If Assange was extradited to Sweden on the sex crime allegations, Sweden could not then extradite him to the United States to face hypothetical charges over the leak of classified information without getting Britain's permission, Geoff Gilbert, a law professor at the University of Essex, told Reuters.

Posted in British Judge To Rule On Bail For WikiLeaks' Assange