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| Europe |
| Assange freed on bail |
| 2010-12-17 |
| WikiLeaks boss Julian Assange was tonight freed from prison after a High Court judge rejected an appeal urging the authorities to keep him in custody. The whistleblower walked free after the decision at the Royal Courts of Justice to allow his release on conditional bail pending moves to extradite him to Sweden. 'Freedom tastes good,' he told a MailOnline reporter outside The Frontline Club in Paddington. 'I've spent a week in a black hole. I've got a hundred years of anger over what's happened.' Earlier, outside court, he said: 'I hope to continue my work and to continue to protest my innocence and to reveal the evidence of these allegations.' It is believed his supporters raised the £240,000 to meet bail. Mr Justice Ouseley's ruling is the latest dramatic development after Assange bail on Tuesday only to have it overturned when British prosecutors lodged an appeal. He will now swap his cell at HM Wandsworth Prison for Ellingham Hall, a ten-bedroom stately home surrounded by 600 acres of land and trees in Norfolk just in time for Christmas. The elegant ten-bedroom retreat in 600 secluded acres of Norfolk countryside is owned by free speech supporter Vaughan Smith, 47. The former captain in the Grenadier Guards is a video journalist and the founder of the war reporters' Frontline Club in London. Assange had been hiding at the club in recent months while the international hunt for him intensified. Explaining his decision to offer up his home to Assange today, Cpt Smith said: 'He needs an appropriate address, he needs a safe place. We all need to stand up and say where we are on this and that's what I have done.' Assange has to stay at the house, which is now his registered bail address. He will also have to wear an electronic tag, report to police every day and observe a curfew. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #8 It's spelled Libya, ebbang. Heh. /channeling Freud |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2010-12-17 15:28 |
| #7 Maybe he can dress up in a burqa and fly to Lybia. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2010-12-17 12:11 |
| #6 I did think it humorous that Mr. Assange demanded that his bail address be kept secret ... |
| Posted by: Steve White 2010-12-17 09:24 |
| #5 The dish is not cold enough to be served yet. The European Arrest Warrant is actually a real bitch. He has very very little chance to escape extradition to Sweden. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2010-12-17 02:32 |
| #4 Hope he's being real careful of 'accidents'(1) while he's out... (1) such as accidentaly stabbing oneself... in the back.... twice... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2010-12-17 01:39 |
| #3 Now that his address is public, the CIA will finally know where to mail the anthrax. |
| Posted by: rammer 2010-12-17 01:36 |
| #2 Alters the entire concept of "tramp stamp". |
| Posted by: badanov 2010-12-17 00:54 |
| #1 Anon1 is recovering from getting her huge Julian Assange tatoo, she'll be back as soon as the flesh heals. |
| Posted by: Fire and Ice 2010-12-17 00:13 |