Wikileaks founder granted bail
The founder of whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been granted conditional bail by a judge in London today, after he was granted bail in London earlier this week but prosecutors objected to the decision and he remained in jail.
Assange, 39, was granted bail earlier this week on condition he provides sureties of £240,000. He remained in Wandsworth Prison after Swedish prosecutors appealed against giving him bail.
Australian-born Assange is also fighting extradition to Sweden where he faces sex allegations involving two women, which he denies.
His solicitor Mark Stephens said afterwards the bail appeal was part of a "continuing vendetta by the Swedes".
"We have won costs today but they should be paid by Sweden not the hard-pressed Crown Prosecutiong Service," he said.
Gemma Lindfield, representing the Swedish authorities, had told the judge there was "a real risk" Assange would abscond and point to his nomadic lifestyle.
She said he had "the means and ability" to go into hiding among Wikileaks' many supporters in this country and abroad.
Assange has received the backing of a number of high-profile supporters including human rights campaigners Jemima Khan and Bianca Jagger, and film director Ken Loach.
His website has published 250,000 sensitive American diplomatic cables, details of which have appeared in the Guardian in the UK and several other newspapers around the world.
