Wikileaks merge (Assange loses extradition appeal)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was today remanded in custody after being arrested by officers from Scotland Yard’s extradition unit.

Mr Assange appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court this afternoon before District Judge Howard Riddle, who denied him bail on the grounds that there was a risk that he would fail to surrender.

He was remanded in custody despite offers from Jemima Khan, the sister of Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, film director Ken Loach and journalist John Pilger to act as guarantors. They offered £20,000 each.

Speaking on the court steps after the hearing, Ms Khan said: “I’m not here to make any kind of judgement on Julian Assange as an individual. I don’t know him and I’ve never met him.

“I’m here because I believe this is about the principle of the universal right to freedom of information, and our right to be told the truth.”

Mr Pilger said Mr Assange’s remand was “unjust”, adding: “He has served the cause of justice and democracy for many, many people, but he’s also done an extremely good job of journalism.”

Mr Assange will appear again before the same court on December 14, and his lawyer, Mark Stephens, also appeared on the court steps to confirm that he would make another bail application.

“We have seen today Mr Assange remanded in custody. That was unfortunate, but WikiLeaks will continue: Wikileaks is many thousands of journalists reporting around the world,” he said.

“We are in the rather exotic position of not having seen any of the evidence that Julian Assange is accused of. Under those circumstances it is very difficult to make a bail application. We have heard the judge today saying that he wishes to see the evidence himself.

“This is going to go viral. Many people will come forward to stand surety.”

He continued: “I am sure that the British judicial system is robust enough not to be interfered with by politicians. Our judges are impartial and fair, our prosecutors are impartial and fair. I hope to be able to say the same about Swedish prosecutors.”

The 39-year-old former computer hacker was arrested when he surrendered himself to a central London police station at 9.30am today, by appointment with his lawyers. He went to the station after officers had informed his legal team that a fresh international warrant had come through from Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over rape allegations.

Sweden issued its first warrant for Mr Assange’s arrest last month, but it was invalid because officials had failed to fill in the form correctly.

Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks’ spokesman, dismissed his colleague’s arrest as an attack on the freedom of the media. “This will not change our operation,” he said. WikiLeaks would continue to work from London and other locations, the group said.

Mr Assange’s lawyer, Mark Stephens, said his client was keen to discover the exact nature of the allegations against him so he could clear his name.

“It’s about time we got to the end of the day and we got some truth, justice and rule of law,” he told Newsnight. “Julian Assange has been the one in hot pursuit to vindicate himself, to clear his good name.

“He has been trying to meet her (the Swedish prosecutor) to find out what the allegations are he has to face and also the evidence against him, which he still hasn’t seen.

“He’s not been charged with anything. “We are in the process of making arrangements to meet with the police by consent in order to facilitate the taking of that question and answer that is needed.”

A Metroplitan Police spokesman said: “Officers from the Metropolitan Police Extradition Unit have this morning arrested Julian Assange on behalf of the Swedish authorities on suspicion of rape.

“Julian Assange, 39, was arrested on a European Arrest Warrant by appointment at a London police station at 9.30am.

“He is accused by the Swedish authorities of one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape, all alleged to have been committed in August 2010.”

Mr Stephens has already said that Mr Assange intends to fight extradition, on the grounds that he could then be handed on to the US, where senior politicians have called for his execution.

Mr Assange has written a defence of his methods and aims for The Australian newspaper. He begins with the words: “In 1958, a young Rupert Murdoch, then owner and editor of Adelaide’s The News, wrote: `In the race between secrecy and truth, it seems inevitable that truth will always win.’’’

WikiLeaks, he said, was continuing in that tradition of “fearlessly publishing facts that need to be made public.”

Quoting a US Supreme Court judgement that said “only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government”, Mr Assange continued: “The swirling storm around WikiLeaks today reinforces the need to defend the right of all media to reveal the truth.”

Pressure continued to mount upon Mr Assange and his organisation when Visa today suspended all payments to WikiLeaks.

“Visa Europe has taken action to suspend Visa payment acceptance on WikiLeaks’ website pending further investigation into the nature of its business and whether it contravenes Visa operating rules,” the company said.

PostFinance, the financial arm of the Swiss post office, closed the former computer hacker’s account yesterday. “The Australian citizen provided false information regarding his place of residence during the account opening process,” the bank said. “Assange entered Geneva as his domicile. Upon inspection, this information was found to be incorrect.

“Assange cannot provide proof of residence in Switzerland and thus does not meet the criteria for a customer relationship with PostFinance.”

WikiLeaks had been using the account’s details for donations to its cause, but dismissed the account closure as a “technicality”. The accounts frozen contained Mr Assange’s defence fund and personal assets worth €31,000 (£26,000), WikiLeaks said.

Alex Josty, of the bank, said there would be “no criminal consequences” for misleading the authorities. “That’s his money, he will get his money back,” he added.

The move is the latest in a game of cat and mouse being played out over the internet as organisations bow to political pressure to sever their links with WikiLeaks, which is releasing some 250,000 secret US diplomatic cables.

Last week Amazon pulled WikiLeaks from its servers, forcing the whistle-blowers to move to a Swiss domain name, wikileaks.ch.

On Saturday, Paypal, the online payment site owned by eBay, froze WikiLeaks’ account, saying it was being used for “illegal activity”. WikiLeaks said that Paypal’s decision had cost it €60,000 in donations.

In France, Eric Besson, the French Industry Minister, demanded that internet regulators removed the site from French servers.

Yesterday in the House of Commons, Home Secretary Theresa May said that all government departments had been asked by national security adviser Sir Peter Ricketts to review their computer security.

The Government also condemned one of WikiLeaks’ latest publications, a list of sites around the world of facilities including communications infrastructure, drug manufacturing sites and arms factories which the US considered vital to its national security. Some of these were in the UK.

Deleted User wrote: »

Assuange had an excellent oppertunity to create an organisation that could protect the weak and defenceless against reprisal from forces that would shoot them (I'm thinking Burma, China, Russia, anywhere without press freedom) Instead he decided "let's f*ck up the United States" adn left those who are in danger of dying to their fate. Also, those who would regulate or shut down the internet now have a flag they can rally around and use to forward their closuing aims.

They will justify shutting down freedoms of the internet with REMEMBER ASSUANGE!!!!!!!

Gogarty put it best,

F*CK YOU ASSUANGE, F*CK YOU!