Assange Gets Bail
The New York Times reports:
After a week in detention facing possible extradition, Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks antisecrecy group, was ordered released on $310,000 bail by a court on Tuesday as he challenges a Swedish prosecutor’s demand for his extradition to face questioning about alleged sex offenses.
Judge Howard Riddle ordered that Mr. Assange appear again in court on Jan. 11. He also said that between then and now he must reside at Ellingham Hall, a Georgian mansion in Bungay, eastern England, owned by Vaughan Smith, the founder of the Frontline Club, which is used mainly by journalists. Mr. Assange must spend every night at the mansion and will be electronically tagged so the police can track his movements, the judge said.
Additionally, Mr. Assange will be under curfew every day from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will be required to report daily to the police from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. His passport is already with the police and, under the terms of his bail, he is not permitted to try to travel abroad.
A British lawyer acting for Swedish authorities who had opposed bail said nothing had changed since it was denied a week ago. The Swedish government said it would appeal against Mr. Assange’s release, but one of this lawyers said he probably would not be released until Wednesday morning.
Mr. Assange was wearing a dark blue suit and a white shirt open at the collar. Reporters said he seemed paler and more fatigued than at the first hearing on Dec. 7 when bail was denied. When the judge announced that bail would be granted on Tuesday, Mr. Assange gave a thumbs-up sign to the packed courthouse.
The case has generated enormous international interest with figures in the Obama administration weighing whether to prosecute him, critics vilifying him and supporters depicting him as a hero and martyr. Crowds of media crews and reporters built up around the court near Parliament early on Tuesday, mingling with Mr. Assange’s followers.
An Australian newspaper, the Sunshine Coast News, reported on Tuesday that his mother, Christine Assange, had flown to London to be with him.
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