Judge orders WikiLeaks' Julian Assange free on bail

[Pharaoh]

LONDON — Julian Assange will be freed on bail from a British jail, a U.K. judge ruled today, rejecting an appeal by prosecutors to keep the WikiLeaks founder in prison as he fights an extradition request by Sweden.

Cheers erupted outside the London court as the verdict by High Court justice Duncan Ouseley was reported. The judge then outlined the bail conditions to Assange in a packed courtroom full of lawyers, journalists and supporters.

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 $316,000 bail Tuesday, but prosecutors sought to keep him behind bars, arguing there was a risk he would flee.





http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2010/12/judge_orders_wikileaks_julian.html

[TexasObserver]

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