Assange Granted Bail, But Appeal By Sweden Puts Him Back In The Cells

Mike Butcher

Mike Butcher is the European Editor for TechCrunch. A former grunge rock drummer, he became a long time journalist, and has since written for UK national newspapers and magazines including The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The New Statesman. Mike is also a co-founder and shareholder of TechHub, a co-working space/service/community with several locations... → Learn More

Tuesday, December 14th, 2010

It’s not over till it’s over huh. Wikileaks head Julian Assange has been granted bail. However, an immediate appeal lodged by Swedish prosecutors trying to have him extradited to Sweden to face rape allegations means that he must now stay in custody until the appeal is heard at some time in the next 48 hours. It’s not known when, as yet.

Assange’s lawyer Mark Stephens, best known for defending human rights cases, told reporters outside court that “they want to put Mr Assange through more hurdles and expense,” and that the case was turning into a “a show trial.” Conditional bail had been set at £200,000, put up by a host of celebrities who are backing Assange, including U.S. filmmaker Michael Moore. Crowds of protesters have been surrounding every episode outside court, some dressed in Assange masks.

The full list of the charges which the Swedish court hopes to bring at a trial in Stockholm are here. Best put your TMZ hat on.

blog comments powered by Disqus