The appeal against bail for WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange will be heard in London’s High Court today, court officials confirmed yesterday.
Lawyers acting for Sweden have challenged a British judge’s order that he can be freed under stringent conditions.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for Assange complained that his legal team was being denied access to his client in jail.
Swedish investigators want to question Assange over allegations he sexually assaulted two women in Stockholm in August, but his supporters insist the process is politically motivated.
As Assange woke up for another day in Wandsworth Prison, WikiLeaks continued to release US diplomatic cables, with one showing a former Thai prime minister with close ties to fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra accused the queen of being behind a 2006 coup that ousted his ally.
Assange was on Tuesday granted bail on condition he pays a security of ￡200,000 (US$315,000) with an additional ￡40,000 guaranteed in sureties.
A collection of celebrity supporters including maverick US film director Michael Moore, British director Ken Loach, campaigning socialite Bianca Jagger and journalist John Pilger have helped put up the bail.
Supporters have reportedly collected half of the cash required by the court.
However, Sweden’s insistence on challenging the bail order means an appeal will be heard in the High Court in London by the end of today.
Mark Stephens, Assange’s lawyer, dismissed suggestions that the 39-year-old Australian would try to flee the country if released on bail.
“The suggestion that he is a flight risk is faintly ludicrous,” he told BBC television.
Stephens said Assange would have to wear an electronic tag as part of his bail conditions, which would allow British authorities to locate him at all times.
He complained that the prison continued to make it difficult for lawyers to meet Assange and prepare his legal case.
“I can’t get access to him,” he said. “I will not be able to take instructions from him.”
He accused Sweden of failing to “abide by the umpire’s decision” in appealing against the bail verdict.
If Assange is released, he will have to reside at the country estate of Vaughan Smith, a former British army officer who founded the Frontline Club, a media club where WikiLeaks has based part of its operations.
While Assange remains in prison, the organization he founded pursues its mission to release classified information which is believed to have been obtained from a US soldier.
The latest cables released yesterday show Samak Sundaravej, who was Thailand’s prime minister for seven months in 2008, alleged that Queen Sirikit had been the driving force behind a 2006 military coup which ousted Thaksin.
Another cable revealed Washington’s fears about the failure of west African governments to tackle increased drug trafficking.
Much of the concern focuses on Ghana, which sits at the center of a new cocaine transit zone, according to the cables revealed in the Guardian newspaper in Britain.
The release of the cables has enraged Washington, where some Republicans have called for Assange to be indicted for espionage.
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
US president-elect Donald Trump is not typically known for his calm or reserve, but in a craftsman’s workshop in rural China he sits in divine contemplation. Cross-legged with his eyes half-closed in a pose evoking the Buddha, this porcelain version of the divisive US leader-in-waiting is the work of designer and sculptor Hong Jinshi (洪金世). The Zen-like figures — which Hong sells for between 999 and 20,000 yuan (US$136 to US$2,728) depending on their size — first went viral in 2021 on the e-commerce platform Taobao, attracting national headlines. Ahead of the real-estate magnate’s inauguration for a second term on Monday next week,
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS