Assange Stays in UK to Avoid Rape Charge
The Daily Telegraph reports:
The former Australian hacker faced arrest by Scotland Yard officers after a Swedish judge indicted him for "rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion".
Mark Stephens, Mr Assange's lawyer, confirmed his presence in Britain but insisted that his precise movements and location "are a matter which is kept confidential".
"I have been in touch with Scotland Yard and Europol today to ask if there were any charges. They said they had nothing outstanding. No public arrest warrant has been issued," but they were aware that the Swedish authorities had issued one, he said.
Mr Stephens admitted that Mr Assange "would find it difficult" to travel to Sweden but denied he was 'hiding'.
He said: "The difficulty is that when Julian moves from country to country it takes a significant amount of planning. That is not to say that we don't want to meet the prosecutors.
"He is not in hiding because he has offered to meet them. He would offer to meet them at the Swedish Embassy or at a neutral venue."
Mr Assange, 39, hit the headlines this summer after Wikileaks began to release thousands of secret Pentagon documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, security breaches that have deeply angered the American authorities and allies including Britain.
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