Victory for Assange as court upholds bail
By Ian Dunt
There were jubulant scenes outside the Royal Courts of Justice today, when Julian Assange’s bail was upheld.
“It’s great to feel the fresh air of London again,” he said upon his release.
“If justice is not always an outcome, at least it is not dead yet.
“I hope to continue my work and continue to protest my innocence in this matter and to reveal as we get it, which we have not yet, the evidence from these allegations.”
Prosecutors appealed last Tuesday’s decision to grant bail, arguing he was still a flight risk despite the tough bail conditions imposed on him.
Mr Justice Ouseley took into account the fact that Mr Assange had told his solicitors to act as point of contact with the Metropolitan police before the arrest warrant was issued, so they would not have to search for him.
“That is not the conduct of a person who is seeking to evade justice,” he said.
An additional five individuals offering sureties were added to the bail conditions, however. They were Philip Knightley, Felix Dennis, Sir John Sulston, Lord Matthew Evans and Patricia David.
“There are so many twists & turns in this case that it’s impossible to say that this is the end of the line,” his lawer, Mark Stephens, said.
“He will not be going back to that Victorian prison. He will not be going back to that cell once occupied by Oscar Wilde.”
Mr Assange’s mother said: “I can’t wait to see my son and hold him close.
“I had faith in the British justice system to do the right thing, and that faith has been confirmed today.”
Mr Assange will now be able to stay at the manor of Vaughan Smith, owners of the journalists’ Frontline Club, while he prepares for extradition proceedings.
There was considerable confusion today over exactly who was appealing the bail decision. It had originally been reported that Swedish authorities were behind the appeal, but they appear to have now confirmed that it is the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which is conducting it.
Lawyers for Mr Assange were thrown by the news, saying that CPS officials had insisted it was Swedish authorities who pressed for the appeal.
Mr Stephens said the identity of the party which appealed the bail judgement remained “opaque”.
A mob of journalists, photographers, supporters and officials greeted the Australian as he arrived at the court today, flashing a thumbs up sign to cameras from the back of a police van.
Mr Assange’s legal team managed to stump up the £200,000 cash needed for bail today. Mr Assange has several very rich celebrity supporters, but acquiring the money in cash form proved problematic.
In a separate development, Sky News appeared to secure the first video interview with members of the ‘hacktavist’ groups targeting companies which ended their relationship with Wikileaks, allegedly under American pressure.
“Our pool of targets is actually very limited,” a masked spokesman said.
“We are going after the agencies that were directly involved in the censorship of WikiLeaks.
“They include PayPal who cut off services and withheld funds. The same with Visa and MasterCard, then Amazon who cut off their service support.
“We don’t attack the media, that is a big no no. Even the media that has been critical of us, we don’t attack any of the news,” the activist continued.
“Facebook, Twitter and social network sites – even though they have done some things against us we’re not going to go after them.”
