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December 16, 2010, 8:27 AM EST
By James Lumley and Erik Larson
Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had his bail ruling in Britain upheld on appeal, a setback to U.K. prosecutors who sought to keep him jailed during an extradition fight with Sweden.
The ruling today by the High Court in London upholds a Dec. 14 decision to free Assange on condition that he turn in his passport, wear an electronic tag and remain at a friend’s home for eight hours a day. Assange must also post bail of 200,000 pounds ($311,800).
Assange, 39, is wanted for questioning in Sweden over allegations of rape and molestation. He turned himself in to U.K. police on Dec. 7 after Swedish authorities issued a European arrest warrant.
WikiLeaks has drawn condemnation for posting thousands of classified U.S. diplomatic communications and U.S. military documents, including a video of a July 2007 helicopter attack in Iraq that killed a Reuters television cameraman and his driver. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Nov. 29 that the Justice Department is investigating the leaks.
London police said they are investigating cyber attacks on unspecified companies by a group called Anonymous. The vigilante group has orchestrated so-called denial-of-service attacks on companies that halted financial services for WikiLeaks, including MasterCard Inc., Visa Inc., and EBay Inc.’s PayPal unit.
The arrest warrant was sought by prosecutor Marianne Ny, who started her investigation on Sept. 1 after a Stockholm-based prosecutor dropped the rape charge and reduced the molestation charges. A lawyer for the two alleged victims appealed that decision.
Swedish Warrant
The Swedish warrant covers one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape.
Assange’s lawyer, Mark Stephens, has said his client has tried repeatedly to meet with the Swedish prosecutor when he was in Sweden and that she hasn’t directly provided evidence against him, such as text messages between the two alleged victims.
Stephens said the Swedish case may be politically motivated due to the WikiLeaks disclosures. Created in 2006, WikiLeaks receives confidential material and posts it online “so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth,” according to its website.
Stephens regularly represents media organizations, including Bloomberg News.
--Editors: Christopher Scinta, Anthony Aarons
To contact the reporter on this story: James Lumley in London at jlumley1@bloomberg.net; Erik Larson in London at elarson4@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net.
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Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had his bail ruling in Britain upheld on appeal, a setback to U.K. prosecutors who sought to keep him jailed during an extradition fight with Sweden.
The ruling today by the High Court in London upholds a Dec. 14 decision to free Assange on condition that he turn in his passport, wear an electronic tag and remain at a friend’s home for eight hours a day. Assange must also post bail of 200,000 pounds ($311,800).
Assange, 39, is wanted for questioning in Sweden over allegations of rape and molestation. He turned himself in to U.K. police on Dec. 7 after Swedish authorities issued a European arrest warrant.
WikiLeaks has drawn condemnation for posting thousands of classified U.S. diplomatic communications and U.S. military documents, including a video of a July 2007 helicopter attack in Iraq that killed a Reuters television cameraman and his driver. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Nov. 29 that the Justice Department is investigating the leaks.
London police said they are investigating cyber attacks on unspecified companies by a group called Anonymous. The vigilante group has orchestrated so-called denial-of-service attacks on companies that halted financial services for WikiLeaks, including MasterCard Inc., Visa Inc., and EBay Inc.’s PayPal unit.
The arrest warrant was sought by prosecutor Marianne Ny, who started her investigation on Sept. 1 after a Stockholm-based prosecutor dropped the rape charge and reduced the molestation charges. A lawyer for the two alleged victims appealed that decision.
Swedish Warrant
The Swedish warrant covers one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape.
Assange’s lawyer, Mark Stephens, has said his client has tried repeatedly to meet with the Swedish prosecutor when he was in Sweden and that she hasn’t directly provided evidence against him, such as text messages between the two alleged victims.
Stephens said the Swedish case may be politically motivated due to the WikiLeaks disclosures. Created in 2006, WikiLeaks receives confidential material and posts it online “so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth,” according to its website.
Stephens regularly represents media organizations, including Bloomberg News.
--Editors: Christopher Scinta, Anthony Aarons
To contact the reporter on this story: James Lumley in London at jlumley1@bloomberg.net; Erik Larson in London at elarson4@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net.
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