THE NEW YORK TIMES: LONDON — A London court ordered on Thursday that Julian Assange, the founder of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks be released on bail while he fights extradition to Sweden on alleged sex offenses.The High Court decision reversed a ruling two days ago to deny bail. The terms Thursday included strict conditions on where he may live until another hearing on Jan. 11.
The hearing was formally separate from Mr. Assange’s role in the publication of some 250,000 American diplomatic documents and came as federal prosecutors in Washington looked for evidence that would enable them to charge him with helping with an Army intelligence analyst suspected of leaking the information.
The American prosecutors believe that if he did so, they could charge him as a conspirator rather than a passive recipient of the documents.
Mr. Assange’s court appearance in London, however, is related to allegations of sexual misconduct on three occasions with two young Swedish women in Stockholm last August, something he denies. Swedish prosecutors say they want him to be returned to their country to question him in connection with accusations that he broke Swedish rape and other laws.
Mr. Assange has said the encounters were consensual but his accusers say they ceased to be consensual when a condom was not being used. >>> Ravi Somaiya in London and Alan Cowell in Paris | Thursday, December 16, 2010
