Julian Assange granted bail to Walk Out of Prison

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will walk free from prison, after a London court granted him bail Thursday.

There was an early sign that the day would go in Assange's favour when Ouseley said: "The history of the way it [the case] has been dealt with by the Swedish prosecutors would give Mr Assange some basis that he might be acquitted following a trial."

It had been widely supposed that Sweden had taken the decision to oppose bail, with the Crown Prosecution Service acting merely as its representative. But the Swedish prosecutor's office told the Guardian it had "not got a view at all on bail" and that Britain had made the decision to oppose bail."

Assange and his lawyers have expressed fears of a legal battle in the US, where prosecutors may be preparing to indict him for espionage over WikiLeaks' publication of the documents.

Christine Assange, mother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and his lawyer Mark Stephens face the media outside the High Court, London, Dec 16, 2010


Judge Duncan Ouseley agreed to release Assange on strict conditions, which include a bail of $315,000, plus two sureties equaling about $62,500. He also must wear an electronic monitoring tag, check in with police daily and stay at the home of former British army officer and WikiLeaks supporter, Vaughan Smith.

As a result, she said, Sweden would not submit any new evidence or arguments to the high court hearing. "The Swedish authorities are not involved in these proceedings. We have not got a view at all on bail."

Assange has been held in Wandsworth prison in London since Dec 7, when he surrendered to authorities.

The 39-year-old Australian arrived at the high court in a white prison van. Photographers swarmed around the vehicle in an attempt to get a picture. Amid intense media interest, a queue of journalists had formed as early as 6am.

One of Assange's lawyers, Mark Stephens, said as he entered court Thursday that the bail money had been raised by a number of Wikileaks supporters and that it appeared to be "in the banking system."

The CPS confirmed that decisions to oppose bail for Assange had been taken by its lawyers. "In all extradition cases, decisions on bail issues are always taken by the domestic prosecuting authority," it said. "It would not be practical for prosecutors in a foreign jurisdiction … to make such decisions."

The WikiLeaks website has released hundreds of classified documents since the website was launched in 2006, roiling governments worldwide. The latest batch include nearly 250,000 secret U.S. diplomatic cables.

The website has continued to distribute the classified U.S. cables while Assange is in jail, and his online supporters have launched attacks against those they see as persecuting him.

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News of Wikileaks Docs Sparks “Global Crisis”

News of Wikileaks Docs Sparks “Global Crisis”

This newest document dump has so far been leaked only to the major media, not the general public:

   WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowers’ Web site that has announced plans to begin publishing another tranche of secret American documents, reported on Sunday that its Web site was under attack. The message posted on Twitter said: “We are currently under a mass distributed denial of service attack.”

    The United States was catapulted into a worldwide diplomatic crisis today, with the leaking to the Guardian and other international media of more than 250,000 classified cables from its embassies, many sent as recently as February this year.

    At the start of a series of daily extracts from the US embassy cables – many of which are designated “secret” – the Guardian can disclose that Arab leaders are privately urging an air strike on Iran and that US officials have been instructed to spy on the UN’s leadership.

In the WikiLeaked cables, the Israeli government constantly highlights three threats: “Iran's nuclear program, the build-up of rockets and missiles in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, and the Goldstone Report.” In defense against each of these threats, and in other arenas, the Israelis seem adept at coercing the US into doing their bidding.

    These two revelations alone would be likely to reverberate around the world. But the secret dispatches which were obtained by WikiLeaks, the whistlebowers’ website, also reveal Washington’s evaluation of many other highly sensitive international issues.

    “Gilad described the Middle East peace process as a 'pillar' of Israeli security. He quoted PM Netanyahu and President Peres that Israel remains sincerely committed to peace. Gilad noted however, that the re-launching of negotiations is complicated by the split in Palestinian leadership. ... That said, he noted that Israeli-PA security and economic cooperation in the West Bank continues to improve as Jenin and Nablus flourish, and described Palestinian security forces as the "good guys."”

    “Rosenblit said that Netanyahu emphasized his openness to talks between the GOR [Government of Russia] and the Palestinians because he welcomed any way to bring them back to negotiations. 'We wanted everyone to tell Abbas to return to negotiations because we can't give him a deal until he sits down.' … Rosenblit said that Israel still insists on talks without preconditions and no interim agreements: 'Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.'”

     In a Forbes magazine interview posted online this week, WikiLeaks' Julian Assange said his outfit plans a "megaleak" regarding a major U.S. bank in early 2011. The release includes tens of thousands of documents and would reveal unspecified unethical behavior, he said.

    "More than a year ago WikiLeaks claimed to have the computer hard drive of a Bank of America executive," spokesman Scott Silvestri said. "Aside from the claims themselves we have no evidence that supports this assertion. We are unaware of any new claims by WikiLeaks that pertain specifically to Bank of America."

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