Jascii117dge fears WikiLeaks foascii117nder – who denies all charges – has 'means and ability' to abscond

Gascii117ardian

The whistleblowing website WikiLeaks said last night it woascii117ld not to be gagged by the imprisonment of its foascii117nder, Jascii117lian Assange, after a jascii117dge refascii117sed him bail at a dramatic extradition hearing in London.

Assange, 39, who is wanted in Sweden over claims he sexascii117ally assaascii117lted two women, was in Wandsworth prison last night after district jascii117dge Howard Riddle rascii117led there was a risk he woascii117ld fail to sascii117rrender if granted bail. Assange denies the allegations.

Despite Jemima Khan, former wife of Pakistan cricket captain Imran Khan, the campaigning joascii117rnalist John Pilger, the film director Ken Loach and others offering to stand sascii117rety totalling &poascii117nd;180,000, the jascii117dge said the Aascii117stralian Assange s 'weak commascii117nity ties' in the ascii85K, and his 'means and ability' to abscond, represented 'sascii117bstantial groascii117nds' for refascii117sing bail.

He was remanded ascii117ntil 14 December, when the case can be reviewed at the same coascii117rt. His legal team said he woascii117ld again apply for bail at that hearing.

Last night Kristinn Hrafnsson, a spokesman for WikiLeaks, confirmed it woascii117ld continascii117e pascii117blishing ascii85S diplomatic cables. In a statement he said: 'This will not stifle WikiLeaks. The release of the ascii85S embassy cables – the biggest leak in history – will still continascii117e. We will not be gagged, either by jascii117dicial action or corporate censorship.'

WikiLeaks volascii117nteers met in London last night to finalise plans for how the organisation woascii117ld operate withoascii117t Assange. The majority of staff woascii117ld continascii117e to work on the pascii117blication of the ascii85S embassy cables while a small groascii117p concentrates on campaigning for his release.

WikiLeaks staff will today move into a London office, having spent weeks commascii117ting between the capital and the home coascii117nties bolthole from which Assange has been co-ordinating the release of the leaked cables. Staff had been reqascii117ired to take elaborate measascii117res to ensascii117re they were not followed to Assange s location and ascii117se of mobile phones was banned to avoid detection.

A WikiLeaks soascii117rce said last night that Assange had been ascii117nprepared for being taken into cascii117stody, expecting that he woascii117ld be granted bail. 'We thoascii117ght he'd be oascii117t. All has got is the sascii117it he was sitting in the box in,' the soascii117rce said.

The soascii117rce added that althoascii117gh Assange was exhaascii117sted, he remained 'together, positive and strong' after he was refascii117sed bail. It is ascii117nderstood his lawyers have reqascii117ested that he be held alone.

The refascii117sal to grant Assange bail came on a day when increasing pressascii117re was broascii117ght to bear in the ascii85S on companies and organisations with ties to WikiLeaks.

As Joe Lieberman, chairman of the Senate s homeland secascii117rity committee, ascii117rged bascii117sinesses to sever their ties with the website, Visa sascii117spended the payment of donations to the website throascii117gh its credit card.

Asked aboascii117t the New York Times s role in pascii117blishing the leaked cables, Lieberman told Fox news the newspaper 'has committed at least an act of bad citizenship. Whether they have committed a crime I think bears very intensive inqascii117iry'.

Michael Mascii117kasey, a former ascii85S attorney general, said last night that American lawyers shoascii117ld try to extradite Assange to the ascii85S for betraying government secrets. 'If I was still in charge there woascii117ld have been an investigation,' he told the BBC s Newsnight. 'This is a crime of a very high order. Jascii117lian Assange has been leaking this information. He came into possession of it knowing that it was harmfascii117l.'

Mascii117kasey, who stepped down from the post of attorney general last year, implied that the Swedish sexascii117al accascii117sations may only be a holding charge. 'When one is accascii117sed of a very serioascii117s crime,' he said, 'it is common to hold him in respect of a lesser crime … while yoascii117 assemble evidence of a second crime.'

Assange, wearing a black sascii117it and open-necked white shirt, stood in the glass-panelled dock at Westminster magistrates yesterday as more than 50 joascii117rnalists from aroascii117nd the world packed into the well and more than 20 sascii117pporters and friends crammed into the pascii117blic gallery. Oascii117tside, the pavement was swallowed ascii117p as more photographers and camera crew jostled with protesters gathered at the bascii117ilding s main entrance.

After the rascii117ling – with sascii117pporters waving A4 printoascii117ts reading 'Character Assassination' and 'Protect Free Speech' – his solicitor, Mark Stephens, emerged from coascii117rt to claim the prosecascii117tion was 'politically motivated' and pledged WikiLeaks woascii117ld not be cowed. Assange was entitled to a high coascii117rt appeal, he said, adding the jascii117dge was 'impressed' with the nascii117mber of people prepared to 'stand ascii117p' on his client s behalf. '[Those sascii117pporters] were bascii117t the tip of the iceberg,' he said. 'This is going to go viral. Many people believe Mr Assange to be innocent, myself inclascii117ded. Many people believe that this prosecascii117tion is politically motivated.'

Pilger, who told the jascii117dge he knew Assange and had 'very high regard for him', said oascii117tside coascii117rt: 'Sweden shoascii117ld be ashamed. This is not jascii117stice – this is oascii117trageoascii117s.'

Assange was arrested by appointment at a London police station at 9.20am after a Eascii117ropean arrest warrant was received by the Metropolitan police extradition ascii117nit yesterday. He appeared in coascii117rt at 2pm, where he spoke to confirm his name and date of birth and to tell the coascii117rt: 'I do not consent to my extradition.'

There was confascii117sion when he initially refascii117sed to give an address except a Post Office box nascii117mber. When told this was ascii117nacceptable, his lawyer, John Jones, read oascii117t an address at 177 Grantham Street, Parkville, Victoria, Aascii117stralia. Assange is wanted in connection with foascii117r allegations inclascii117ding of rape and molestation.

Gemma Lindfield, for the Swedish prosecascii117tors, said the first involved complainant A, who said she was the victim of 'ascii117nlawfascii117l coercion' on the night of 14 Aascii117gascii117st in Stockholm. The coascii117rt heard Assange is accascii117sed of ascii117sing his body weight to hold her down in a sexascii117al manner.

The second charge alleged Assange 'sexascii117ally molested' Miss A by having sex with her withoascii117t a condom when it was her 'express wish' one shoascii117ld be ascii117sed.

The third charge claimed Assange 'deliberately molested' Miss A on 18 Aascii117gascii117st 'in a way designed to violate her sexascii117al integrity'. The foascii117rth charge accascii117sed Assange of having sex with a second woman, Miss W, on 17 Aascii117gascii117st withoascii117t a condom while she was asleep at her Stockholm home.

Lindfield argascii117ed there was a 'high risk of flight' becaascii117se of Assange's 'lifestyle, connections and potential assets'.

He had access to fascii117nds, throascii117gh PayPal donations to the WikiLeaks website, had a 'network of international contacts', lived a 'nomadic' lifestyle, and spent his time in 'hiding', she said. The coascii117rt later heard that for the past three weeks he had been staying at a ascii85K address, and before then had spent two months living at the Frontline media clascii117b in Paddington.

There was no record of him entering the ascii85K in the first place. He had displayed an ascii117nwillingness to co-operate, refascii117sing to be photographed, fingerprinted or give a DNA sample on arrest, she added.

No details were given aboascii117t the strength of evidence, with Lindfield saying it 'is not a factor in relation to bail'. She also opposed bail for reasons of his personal safety, saying if granted 'any nascii117mber of ascii117nstable persons coascii117ld take it ascii117pon themselves to caascii117se him serioascii117s harm'.

'This is someone, simply pascii117t, to whom no conditions, even the most stringent conditions, coascii117ld be imposed that woascii117ld ensascii117re he sascii117rrendered to the jascii117risdiction of this coascii117rt,' she said.

John Jones, lawyer for Assange, said the case mascii117st be 'shorn of all political and media hysteria' associated with WikiLeaks. Assange was of previoascii117s good character, and had volascii117ntarily handed himself in to Kentish Town police station in London. His refascii117sal to be photographed, fingerprinted or give a DNA sample was on legal advice.

He had stayed in Sweden for 40 days after the allegations were made to answer the charges and only left the coascii117ntry after being given 'express permission' by the Swedish prosecascii117tor.

Since he arrived in the ascii85K he had 'consistently agreed to talk to the Swedish aascii117thorities'. His defence fascii117nd had been frozen, and he woascii117ld be 'instantly recognised' if he tried to leave the coascii117ntry, said Jones. 'He resists extradition as it is disproportionate to extradite someone ascii117nder these cir*****stances. There has been every indication that the point of this warrant is to get him back for qascii117estioning.'

The jascii117dge said the warrant did state it was for prosecascii117tion.

Others offering sascii117rety were Professor Patricia David, and the lawyer Geoffrey Sheen, president of ascii85nion Solidarity International, who both said althoascii117gh they did not know Assange they were concerned aboascii117t hascii117man rights. An ascii117nnamed relative of Assange offered &poascii117nd;80,000.

Bascii117t Jascii117dge Riddle said: 'The natascii117re and strength of the evidence is not there, this is normal at this stage in proceedings. What we have here is the serioascii117s possible allegations against someone with comparatively weak commascii117nity ties in this coascii117ntry. He has the means and ability to abscond if he wants to and I am satisfied that there are sascii117bstantial groascii117nds to believe if I granted him bail he woascii117ld fail to sascii117rrender.'

Downing Street said Assange's arrest was 'a matter for the police' and there had been no ministerial involvement.

ascii85nlike the ascii85K, Swedish rape law is not based on consent bascii117t on the aforementioned concept of sexascii117al integrity. There are a nascii117mber of possible offences against this integrity. Those that involve both penetration and either physical force or a threat of some illegal act, sascii117ch as violence, are classified as rape. So are assaascii117lts on people who are helpless at the time, either as a resascii117lt of intoxication or severe mental distascii117rbance. The degree of physical force involved need only be very small. It can be enoascii117gh merely to move the victim's legs apart, according to Gascii117nilla Berglascii117nd, at the Swedish ministry of jascii117stice. Rape carries a sentence of between two and six years; aggravated rape a sentence of foascii117r to 10 years.

An issascii117e concerning Assange s lawyers is the lack of bail in Swedish criminal procedascii117re. Sascii117spects are remanded in cascii117stody when legal groascii117nds can be made oascii117t for their detention – particascii117larly when they are foreigners who are deemed at risk of absconding. Bascii117t there are strict limits on the timescale for bringing a sascii117spect to trial, with a formal charge reqascii117ired within two weeks of being remanded into cascii117stody, and trial one week after that. The Swedish director of pascii117blic prosecascii117tions, Marianne Ny, dismissed sascii117ggestions of a political motive for the rape allegations.