WikiLeaks founder Assange granted conditional bail, but Swedish appeal expected

[News_Editor]

WikiLeaks founder Assange granted conditional bail, but Swedish appeal expected

2010-12-14 23:31:06 GMT+7 (ICT)

LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- A British judge on Tuesday granted conditional bail to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as he awaits a decision on whether he should be extradited to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual molestation.

Assange's surety was set at 240,000 British pounds ($380,000) and the 39-year-old Australian was ordered to submit to a curfew from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. He will also have to report to a police station every day at 6 p.m and surrender his passport.

But his immediate release was unlikely as Swedish prosecutors were preparing to appeal the decision, which they will have to do within two hours after the judge announced his decision to allow bail. Until then, Assange will not be freed.

Australian documentary maker John Pilger, speaking outside the court, welcomed the decision of the court but condemned Assange's detention as he has not been formally charged with any crimes.

Assange was arrested last Tuesday at a London police station where he arrived by appointment. He is wanted in Sweden on accusations of sexual molestation and rape, unrelated to his work for the controversial whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks which brought diplomatic hurricanes to the United States this year when it began releasing classified documents it had obtained.

The organization's first big scoop was on April 5 when it released a classified video which showed a 2007 U.S. helicopter attack in Iraq which left several civilians killed, including two unarmed Reuters journalists.

Later, in July, WikiLeaks released the so-called 'Afghan War Diary', more than 92,000 documents with sensitive details about the ongoing war in Afghanistan. It was one of the largest leaks in the history of the U.S. military, but also exposed the names of Afghans who have provided information to NATO. The Taliban pledged to kill those informants, although no such violence was ever reported.

Then, in late October, WikiLeaks released nearly 400,000 U.S. Army field reports of the Iraq War between 2004 and 2009. It led to several revelations, including new reports of civilian deaths. It was the biggest leak in U.S. military history.

But especially its latest release has been sending shock waves around the globe as WikiLeaks began releasing some of the 251,287 U.S. diplomatic cables it claims to have. As of Tuesday, however, only 1,447 cables were released.

But most recently, Assange's personal life began to overshadow the release of documents amid increasing calls to arrest him over the allegations in Sweden. Interpol even issued a 'Red Notice' which helped spread the arrest warrant globally.

But others have questioned the motives of Swedish authorities to issue the arrest warrant, saying it is an attempt to destroy Assange's image and to put him behind bars to silence him. Assange himself has also denied the accusations on multiple occasions, although he admitted to having consensual sex with two women within several days of each other. "The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing," he said on August 21.

Assange questioned the timing of the charges when speaking with media organizations and said he had been told to expect 'dirty tricks' from the Pentagon, including 'sex traps' to ruin his reputation.

According to police statements in Sweden, two women had met with Assange and both had unprotected sex with him during the course of several days. They later spoke with each other and discovered that they had both slept with him while not using a condom.

After this discovery, the women walked into a police station together to report the events. According to the documents, the women feared that they had received a sexually transmitted disease (STD) from Assange. And especially one of the women was anxious about the possibility of HIV and pregnancy.

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