Julian Assange denied bail by London court in retaliation for Wikileaks’ release of damaging US State Department cables

The Guardian UK, Tuesday 7 December 2010 20.52 GMT

Julian Assange denied bail over sexual assault allegations

“Last night Kristinn Hrafnsson, a spokesman for WikiLeaks, confirmed it would continue publishing US diplomatic cables. In a statement he said: “This will not stifle WikiLeaks. The release of the US embassy cables – the biggest leak in history – will still continue. We will not be gagged, either by judicial action or corporate censorship.”

Julian Assange arriving at Westminster magistrates court.

The whistleblowing website Wikileaks said last night it would not to be gagged by the imprisonment of its founder, Julian Assange, after a judge refused him bail at a dramatic extradition hearing in London.

Assange, 39, who is wanted in Sweden over claims he sexually assaulted two women, was in Wandsworth prison last night after district judge Howard Riddle ruled there was a risk he would fail to surrender if granted bail. Assange denies the allegations.

 

Despite Jemima Khan, former wife of Pakistan cricket captain Imran Khan, the campaigning journalist John Pilger, the film director Ken Loach and others offering to stand surety totalling £180,000, the judge said the Australian Assange’s “weak community ties” in the UK, and his “means and ability” to abscond, represented “substantial grounds” for refusing bail. He was remanded until 14 December, when the case can be reviewed at the same court. His legal team said he would again apply for bail at that hearing.

Last night Kristinn Hrafnsson, a spokesman for WikiLeaks, confirmed it would continue publishing US diplomatic cables. In a statement he said: “This will not stifle WikiLeaks. The release of the US embassy cables – the biggest leak in history – will still continue. We will not be gagged, either by judicial action or corporate censorship.”

WikiLeaks volunteers met in London last night to finalise plans for how the organisation would operate without Assange. The majority of staff would continue to work on the publication of the US embassy cables while a small group concentrates on campaigning for his release.