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Julian Assange granted bail after British ban fails
WikiLeaks man prepares to walk free after Swedes say: ‘We have no view on bail’
A judge at the High Court has upheld Tuesday's decision to grant bail to Julian Assange. The precise bail conditions are still being set, but within hours, the WikiLeaks founder will walk free.
Mr Justice Ouseley ruled today that as Assange would only face a short jail sentence, or none at all, if convicted in Sweden he should be allowed bail while he fights extradition. Bail was originally granted on Tuesday, but an appeal was lodged against the decision.
At first it was thought the appeal had been initiated by Swedish prosecutors, but this morning it emerged they were not involved. In fact, it was the UK's Crown Prosecution Service which hoped to prevent the WikiLeaks founder fighting extradition to Sweden as a free man.
But the CPS has lost its appeal - and Assange will spend Christmas in the Suffolk mansion of his supporter Vaughan Smith, not Wandsworth jail, where he has spent nine nights. The only problem for the court is that Bungay police station, the nearest, is only open part time - and Assange is required to report every day.
Assange's lawyers say they were told by the CPS that it was Sweden which was pushing to keep the 38-year-old Australian in jail after he was granted bail on Tuesday. However, yesterday the CPS confirmed to the Guardian that they were behind the appeal.
The paper also spoke to the Swedish prosecutor's office. The
communications director there, Karin Rosander, told them: "The
decision was made by the British prosecutor.
"I got it confirmed by the CPS this morning that the decision to
appeal the granting of bail was entirely a matter for the CPS. The
Swedish prosecutors are not entitled to make decisions within
Britain."
She added: "The Swedish authorities are not involved in these
proceedings. We have not got a view at all on bail."
The news that British prosecutors sought to overturn the judge's decision to grant the WikiLeaks founder bail – and the misinformation previously surrounding that appeal – will add to suspicions there is something grubby about the attempted extradition.
In a letter to the Guardian last week, the charity Women Against
Rape said Assange was being pursued with "unusual zeal" and observed that there is a "long tradition of the use of rape and sexual assault for political agendas".
Outside the court on Tuesday, one female protestor expressed similar sentiments on her banner: "Sex crimes my arse!" ·
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This sordid display put on by the Swedish judiciary and the conflicting statements bandied around: They said, she said, he said etc., it could not get more farcical. Forget Swedish meatballs, Sweden's credibility has sunk so low that Swedish Jellyballs should be gifted to the DPP and Cameron for xmas lunch. I havent seen any statements from Huckabee and Palin about leading a hit team to be parachuted into East Anglia. At least some sanity was applied at the appeal. Happy Xmas to you and your team Mr Assange.
Staggering that Mr. Assange has become such an evil person and worthy target for the forces of security to chase. When I go for my hourly walk every day I think about a Chinaman in 1937 who was photographed walking in Nan Kin across the Yanksee river. He was walking on a carpet of bodies put there by the Japanese. Today I get a great feeling of security knowing that a carpet with a similar number of bodies is being laid down to protect my security. The bodies are in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of the Yanksee river. We have Mr Assange resisting these forces to keep me feeling free and secure on my walk. It puts me off going the extra mile to appreciate the all the sacrifices that are being made by the war on terrorism for us all.
It is time for everyone to show their cards because the game is getting boring. Julian Assange is weird with the women, the USA has a â??me firstâ?? attitude, with possible criminal conspiracy tendencies and or they have more to hide and Great Britain is not as great as it has been in the past. Hopefully the Royals are ignorant.
Showing your cards as you fold gives others a safer pedestal to stand on; and easier game to play. Have we come clean Julian? Why are those girls annoyed with you? You may be feeling bad because of a disagreement about what is weird. Why do we not hear from the girls? And my favorite question, what might be leaked in the future about all of the government, police, politicians and powerful people involved in this mess. Should we have complete accountability now and enforce that accountability with a threat to remove their heads?
The answer: the data is already out there. Too late to fold with your cards face down.
Brian Elwin Pomeroy
Interesting the Judge stated that Assange would face little or no jail time anyway in Sweden, if convicted. This whole series of events stinks. I doubt that the Swedes will ever be able to convict him. Assange in the past did muse publicly about suing the Swedish Authorities for having so successfully damaged his reputation. He should go ahead and sue for a huge amount and then use the damages awarded to finance WikiLeaks. Delicious thought.
Funny this, as I had the impression the CPS never bothered with rape cases, usually by stating 'not enough evidence'. Come on Cameron, for God's sake show us you have some vestige of manhood left, or perhaps just like Blair you are a useless tool of the Americans.