News >World

Judge denies WikiLeaks founder bail

2010-12-08 01:22

?

Judge denies WikiLeaks founder bail

Photographers hold cameras to the windows of a prison van believed to be carrying WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as it leaves Westminster Magistrates court, in central London Dec 7, 2010. Assange was refused bail by a British court on Tuesday after he was arrested over allegations of sex crimes in Sweden. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested and remanded in custody by a British court on Tuesday over allegations of sex crimes in Sweden.

Assange, whose WikiLeaks website is at the centre of a furious row over the release of secret US diplomatic cables, was arrested under a European Arrest Warrant on Tuesday after handing himself in to London police.

Assange, who denies the allegations, will remain behind bars until a fresh hearing on December 14.

He has spent some time in Sweden and was accused this year of sexual misconduct by two female Swedish WikiLeaks volunteers. A Swedish prosecutor wants to question him about the accusation.

WikiLeaks, which has provoked fury in Washington with its publications, vowed it would continue making public details of the 250,000 secret US documents it had obtained.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates welcomed news of the arrest. "I hadn't heard that but it sounds like good news to me," Gates told reporters during a trip to Afghanistan.

At a court hearing in London, Senior District Judge Howard Riddle said: "There are substantial grounds to believe he could abscond if granted bail".

He said the allegations were serious, and that Assange had comparatively weak community ties in Britain.

Assange, dressed in a navy suit and wearing an open-neck white shirt, initially gave his address as PO Box in Australia. Pressed for a more precise address, he said Victoria, Australia.

Australian journalist John Pilger, British film director Ken Loach and Jemima Khan, former wife of Pakistani cricketer and politician Imran Khan, all offered to put up sureties to persuade the court Assange would not abscond.

Pilger, who offered 20,000 pounds ($31,600), told the court: "I have a very high regard for him. These charges against him in Sweden are absurd and were judged absurd by a senior Swedish prosecutor.

"It would be a travesty for Mr Assange to go within that kind of Swedish system."

ALLEGATIONS

The US government and others across the world have argued the publication of cables is irresponsible and could put their national security at risk.

The WikiLeaks website was shut down after apparent political pressure on service providers, but WikiLeaks said there were now 750 global mirror sites meaning the data so far released remained publicly available.

"Today's actions against our editor-in-chief Julian Assange won't affect our operations: we will release more cables tonight as normal," WikiLeaks said, according to its Twitter page.

London police said Assange was arrested by officers from its extradition unit at about 9.30 am (0930 GMT) after he appeared by appointment at a police station. His whereabouts had been previously undisclosed.

Lawyer Gemma Lindfield, representing the Swedish judicial authorities, said the extradition case contained allegations of four sexual assaults by Assange against two women in Stockholm in August 2010. One charge against Miss A is that Assange "sexually molested her" by ignoring her request for him to use a condom when having sex with her.

Another charge relates to "Miss W", who alleged Assange had sex with her without a condom while she was sleeping on August 7.

Swedish prosecutors opened, then dropped, then re-opened an investigation into the allegations. The crime he is suspected of is the least severe of three categories of rape, carrying a maximum of four years in jail.

Assange's Swedish lawyer has said his client would fight any extradition and believed foreign powers were influencing Sweden.

The group said it would be operating as normal using people in London and other locations, and argued the pressure it faced was becoming a fundamental question of civil liberties.

Swiss postfinance, the banking arm of state-owned Swiss Post, has closed an account used for WikiLeaks donations and online payment service PayPal has also suspended WikiLeaks' account. Visa Europe said on Tuesday it had suspended payments to the WikiLeaks website.

Related News:

主站蜘蛛池模板: 攵女yin乱合集高h小丹| 狠狠色综合网站久久久久久久 | xxxxx性欧美hd另类| 天天想你在线视频免费观看| 中文字幕人成无码免费视频| 日本漫画口工全彩内番漫画丝袜| 亚洲丶国产丶欧美一区二区三区| 波多野结衣中文一区二区免费 | 亚洲精品欧美精品国产精品| 精品久久久噜噜噜久久久| 四虎影视久久久免费观看| 边吃奶边摸下面| 国产在线观看网站萌白酱视频| 天天拍天天干天天操| 国产精品无码av一区二区三区| 99re66热这里只有精品17| 天天爽天天碰狠狠添| 一二三四视频免费视频| 成人无码嫩草影院| 中日韩精品无码一区二区三区| 最新中文字幕一区二区乱码| 亚洲国产成人九九综合| 欧美日韩一区二区三区色综合 | 国产一级理仑片日本| 韩国中文电影在线看完整免费版 | 看免费毛片天天看| 午夜福利一区二区三区在线观看| 色噜噜狠狠一区二区三区| 国产三级在线观看视小说| 西西午夜无码大胆啪啪国模| 国产制服丝袜在线观看| 麻豆精品一区二区三区免费| 国产成人tv在线观看| 黑人与中国女一级毛片不卡| 国产成人精品A视频一区| 黑白禁区高清免费观看全集电视剧| 国产探花视频在线观看| 黄色成人在线网站| 国产喷水女王在线播放| 青娱乐在线视频免费观看| 国产中文字幕视频在线观看|