Almost half of Britons feel WikiLeaks sex charges are "excuse" (CNN)

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http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/13/uk.poll.wikileaks/?hpt=Sbin

Poll: Almost half of Britons feel WikiLeaks sex charges are "excuse"
By Michael Martinez, CNN

(CNN) -- Almost half of Britons believe that the sex charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are "an excuse" to keep him in custody so that the U.S. government can prosecute him for releasing secret diplomatic cables, a new CNN poll shows.

The CNN poll of British opinion, released Monday on the eve of Assange's bail hearing in London, finds that 44% of respondents in Great Britain believe that Sweden's sex charges are just a pretext, while only 13% flatly disagree. The remaining 43% say they don't know.

Assange, 39, the Australian founder of WikiLeaks, is fighting extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning about allegations of sexual assault.

British people responding to the poll said by a spreak of 41% to 30% that Assange shouldn't be prosecuted for releasing the secret diplomatic cables, with the remaining 29% not having made up their mind. More people agree than disagree that Wikileaks was right to release the cables, by 42% to 33%. The remainder, 25%, don't have a position...