London - A British court will decide on Thursday whether to free WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has become the scourge of the US establishment, on 200 000 pound ($317,000) bail over accusations of sex crimes in Sweden.
Assange, who has outraged the US authorities by releasing hundreds of secret diplomatic cables, was granted bail on Tuesday by a British court but prosecutors immediately challenged the ruling and he remains in a London jail.
“The prosecution appeal against the Magistrates Court decision to grant Julian Assange bail has been filed. It will be heard tomorrow,” officials said in a brief statement. The case will be heard in England's High Court in central London. A lawyer for Assange, a 39-year-old Australian computer expert, said earlier on Wednesday his backers had raised around half of the cash he needs to secure bail.
Lawyer Mark Stephens said ordinary members of the public wanted to contribute to the fund to release him. “We have to come up with 200 000 pounds in pound notes and that is difficult to come by,” lawyer Mark Stephens told BBC News.
“We've got about half of that right now but of course people will understand that even wealthy people don't keep that kind of money knocking around,” he added.
Prominent public figures including US film-maker Michael Moore, Australian journalist John Pilger and British author Hanif Kureishi have pledged their support for Assange. “I'm getting offers from the general public who are coming in and saying we really would like to contribute to this, Julian Assange shouldn't be in jail,” Stephens added.
Assange and his lawyers have voiced fears that US prosecutors may be preparing to indict him for espionage over WikiLeaks' publication of the documents.
Assange is fighting attempts to extradite him to Sweden for questioning over allegations of sexual misconduct made by two female WikiLeaks volunteers, which he denies.
Stephens has accused the Swedish authorities of trying to conduct a “show trial” and of persecuting his client.
“Why is it that Swedish authorities are so dead set that Julian Assange spends Christmas in jail. Do they have the genes of Scrooge?,” Stephens said, referring to a cold-hearted character from Charles Dickens's novel “A Christmas Carol”.
The conditions of Assange's bail say he must stay at a country house in eastern England owned by a supporter, report to police daily and wear an electronic tag.
The court has asked for a further 40 000 pounds in guarantees which would have to be paid were he to disappear.
However, Swedish authorities fear he could flee justice.
“He remains a significant flight risk and no conditions that the court can impose could prevent his flight,” prosecution lawyer Gemma Lindfield, representing the Swedish authorities, told the court hearing on Tuesday.
Despite Assange's legal problems, WikiLeaks continues to drip feed some of the 250 000 cables it has obtained, working with newspapers around the globe to amplify their impact.
WikiLeaks' sympathisers have attacked the websites of credit card companies which they accuse of supporting efforts to silence the organisation.
WikiLeaks has come under fire for publishing details of overseas sites the United States regards as vital to its security. It has also disclosed that Saudi King Abdullah repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran's nuclear programme.
The US Air Force has blocked employees from visiting media websites carrying leaked WikiLeaks documents, including the New York Times and the Guardian.
In the latest disclosures, Britain's Guardian reported that Ghana's president was concerned about drug trafficking and corruption within his own government.
President John Atta Mills was reported by the US ambassador to Ghana as saying that anti-drug activities at Accra airport had also been sabotaged by narcotics control officers. - Reuters