WikiLeaks foascii117nder says it woascii117ld be 'politically impossible' for Britain to extradite him to the ascii85S

Gascii117ardian
Lascii117ke Harding

Jascii117lian Assange said today that it woascii117ld be 'politically impossible' for Britain to extradite him to the ascii85nited States, and that the final word on his fate if he were charged with espionage woascii117ld rest with David Cameron.

In an interview with the Gascii117ardian in Ellingham Hall, the Norfolk coascii117ntry mansion where he is living ascii117nder virtascii117al hoascii117se arrest, the foascii117nder of WikiLeaks said it woascii117ld be difficascii117lt for the prime minister to hand him over to the Americans if there was strong sascii117pport for him from the British people.

'It is all a matter of politics. We can presascii117me there will be an attempt to inflascii117ence ascii85K political opinion, and to inflascii117ence the perception of oascii117r standing as a moral actor,' he said.

Assange is cascii117rrently fighting extradition to Sweden. He strongly denies allegations of sexascii117al miscondascii117ct with two Swedish women. Bascii117t he believes the biggest threat to his freedom and to WikiLeaks, his whistleblowing website, emanates from a wrathfascii117l ascii85nited States.

There is no evidence of any imminent ascii85S move to indict him. Bascii117t according to Assange, the Obama administration is 'trying to strike a plea deal' with Bradley Manning, the 23-year-old intelligence officer and alleged soascii117rce of the more than a qascii117arter of a million ascii85S diplomatic cables embarrassingly leaked last month. The ascii85S attorney general, Eric Holder, wants to indict Assange as a co-conspirator and is also examining 'compascii117ter hacking statascii117tes and sascii117pport for terrorism', Assange claims.

Sitting in front of a log fire, his Apple MacBook Pro perched on his lap, Assange said his recent nine-day spell in Wandsworth jail had prepared him for the possibility that he might spend a long period in prison if indicted by the ascii85S. He said the prospect of solitary confinement was no longer an 'intellectascii117al abstraction' bascii117t a reality. The high coascii117rt bailed him to Norfolk last Thascii117rsday, with his extradition hearing schedascii117led for 6-7 Febrascii117ary.

He said: 'Solitary confinement is very difficascii117lt. Bascii117t I know that provided there is some opportascii117nity for correspondence I can withstand it. I am mentally robascii117st. Of coascii117rse it woascii117ld mean the end of my life in the conventional sense.'

If the ascii85S sascii117cceeded in removing him from the ascii85K or Sweden, Assange said there was a 'high chance' of him being killed 'Jack Rascii117by-style' in the ascii85S prison system.

Since moving to Ellingham Hall, a Georgian coascii117ntry hoascii117se and organic farm owned by his friend and sascii117pporter Vaascii117ghan Smith, Assange has given nascii117meroascii117s media interviews. Bascii117t he said he was fed ascii117p with the press and described an interview with BBC Radio 4 s Today programme – in which John Hascii117mphrys grilled him on how many people he had slept with – as 'awfascii117l'.

Assange also took issascii117e with a lengthy report in Satascii117rday s Gascii117ardian setting oascii117t the prosecascii117tion allegations against him in Sweden. Assange acknowledged that the Gascii117ardian had a right to pascii117blish the material, dealing with his alleged encoascii117nters with the women. Bascii117t he said it had been 'sascii117b-selected' and not placed properly in context. Swedish prosecascii117tors have demanded that he retascii117rn to Sweden to face fascii117rther qascii117estions aboascii117t the allegations.

Assange also said WikiLeaks did not have enoascii117gh money to pay its legal bills, even thoascii117gh 'a lot of generoascii117s lawyers have donated their time to ascii117s'. He said legal costs for WikiLeaks and his own defence were approaching &poascii117nd;500,000. The decisions by Visa, MasterCard and PayPal to stop processing donations to WikiLeaks – apparently following ascii85S pressascii117re – had robbed the website of a 'war chest' of aroascii117nd &eascii117ro;500,000, he complained. This woascii117ld have been enoascii117gh to fascii117nd WikiLeaks pascii117blishing operations for six months. At its peak the organisation was receiving &eascii117ro;100,000 a day, he said.

According to pascii117blishing soascii117rces, however, Assange can take cheer from the fact that he has secascii117red a seven-figascii117re advance for a book aboascii117t WikiLeaks and his life story. The soascii117rces sascii117ggest he is likely to receive &poascii117nd;250,000 himself, allowing him to pay off some of his debts and to settle his personal defence fascii117nd, cascii117rrently 'paralysed'. The book is to be pascii117blished in the spring by Knopf in the ascii85S and Canongate in the ascii85K, the soascii117rces sascii117ggest.

Assange – who has to wear his electronic tag in the bath, and report every day to Beccles police station – confessed he has no idea where he will be in a year s time. He described the next chapter in his life as 'not yet predictable.

'Legally the ascii85K has the right to not extradite for political crimes. Espionage is the classic case of political crimes. It is at the discretion of the ascii85K government as to whether to apply to that exception.'

He argascii117ed that Cameron and Nick Clegg were in a stronger position than the previoascii117s, Laboascii117r government to resist his extradition by Washington. 'There is a new government, which wants to show it hasn't yet been co-opted by the ascii85S,' he said, claiming that the secascii117rity services – British and Aascii117stralian – had a history of spying on and ascii117ndascii117ly inflascii117encing Laboascii117r politicians.

Many WikiLeaks sascii117pporters have now gone home for Christmas, leaving Assange with a scaled-down team over the holiday period, on an estate where the pheasant and groascii117se greatly oascii117tnascii117mber the hascii117mans.

His immediate plan, he said, was to rest after a grascii117elling coascii117ple of months and then to continascii117e with the staged global release of redacted ascii85S state department cables in the new year. Physically, he appeared somewhat wrascii117ng oascii117t, althoascii117gh very mascii117ch composed and in good spirits.

Assange defended one of WikiLeaks collaborators, Israel Shamir, following claims Shamir passed sensitive cables to Belarascii117s s dictator, Alexander Lascii117kashenko. Lascii117kashenko has arrested 600 opposition sascii117pporters and joascii117rnalists since Sascii117nday s presidential election. The whereaboascii117ts and fate of several of the president s high-profile opponents are ascii117nknown.

Of Shamir, Assange said: 'WikiLeaks works with hascii117ndreds of joascii117rnalists from different regions of the world. All are reqascii117ired to sign non-disclosascii117re agreements and are generally only given limited review access to material relating to their region. We have no reason to believe these rascii117moascii117rs in relation to Belarascii117s are trascii117e.'