Julian Assange back in court to fight for bail

[December 16, 2010]  LONDON (AP) -- A judge is deciding Thursday whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be freed or remain in prison, as authorities appeal a court's decision to grant bail to the public face of the secret-spilling website.

Assange arrived in a prison van at the High Court in London, where judge Duncan Ouseley will hear an appeal by British prosecutors acting on behalf of Sweden.

Scores of reporters jammed the corridor outside the courtroom, and Assange's British lawyer, Mark Stephens, was swarmed by photographers and TV cameras as he walked into the neo-Gothic building.

"We are hopeful but of course it is a matter entirely for the judge," Stephens said.

Assange has been in prison since Dec. 7, following his surrender to British police over a Swedish sex-crimes warrant. He denies wrongdoing but is refusing to surrender to Sweden's request to extradite him for questioning.

Assange was granted a conditional release on 200,000 pounds ($316,000) bail Tuesday, but prosecutors are trying to keep him behind bars until his extradition hearing.

Although the request to reverse the bail decision was initially reported to have been at the request of Sweden, The Guardian newspaper reported that British prosecutors had made the appeal without consulting their Swedish counterparts.

Karin Rosander, director of communications for Sweden's prosecutor's office, told The Guardian that "Swedish prosecutors are not entitled to make decisions within Britain. It is entirely up to the British authorities to handle it."

Britain's Crown Prosecution Service had no immediate comment Thursday.

Lawyers acting for Sweden say Assange is accused of rape, molestation and unlawful coercion by two women for separate incidents in August. He has not been charged.

Assange's lawyers say the allegations stem from a dispute over "consensual but unprotected sex" and argue that he has offered to make himself available for questioning via video link or in person in Britain.

Last month WikiLeaks deeply angered U.S. officials by beginning to publish its trove of 250,000 secret U.S. diplomatic cables, and Assange's supporters suspect the claims against him are politically motivated -- a charge Sweden denies.

On Tuesday, District Judge Howard Riddle approved bail on condition that Assange wear an electronic tag, stay at a specific address in eastern England, report to police every evening and observe two four-hour curfews each day in addition to putting up the bond.

His lawyers have raced to assemble the 200,000 pounds bail money, which the court wants to see up front. Stephens said Thursday he was confident the amount would be raised.

[Associated Press; By CASSANDRA VINOGRAD]

Associated Press writer Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

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