JOIN USAssange held, denied bail
Assange was ordered to remain in custody until a further court session on December 14, the latest twist in the drama swirling around WikiLeaks following its publication of leaked documents.
Assange’s associates said his detention would not alter plans for further disclosures like those it has made in recent months relating to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and, over the past nine days, disclosing confidential diplomatic messages between the State Department and American representatives abroad.
“Today’s actions against our editor-in-chief Julian Assange won’t affect our operations: we will release more cables tonight as normal,” a posting on the WikiLeaks Twitter account said.
The defiant tone seemed to draw ever clearer battle-lines by supporters of Assange who cast him as a crusader, and foes, including the Obama administration, who have been infuriated by revelations of sensitive material whose publication, his critics say, could threaten American security interests, alliances and lives.
Assange was arrested by officers from Scotland Yard’s extradition unit when he went to a central London police station by prior agreement with the authorities, the police said.
He arrived at the court near the Houses of Parliament on the banks of the River Thames, using a rear entrance to the building to skirt a scrum of television cameras, satellite vans and reporters from Britain, the US, China, Russia, Japan and many European countries.
Assange was asked whether he understood that he could consent to be extradited to Sweden. Assange replied that he did not consent.
In a statement earlier on Tuesday, the police said: “Officers from the Metropolitan Police extradition unit have this morning arrested Julian Assange on behalf of the Swedish authorities on suspicion of rape.”
Assange has denied the charges of sexual misconduct said to have been committed while he was in Sweden in August. It was not immediately clear if Assange would resist extradition to Sweden for questioning by prosecutors there.
The British police statement said that Assange was “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.”
Chomsky signs letter supporting Assange
Renowned American scholar and activist Noam Chomsky signed an open letter to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Tuesday urging her to make a “strong statement” in support of Julian Assange, AFP reports from Sydney.
Chomsky, a professor of linguistics at the US Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a prominent critic of US foreign policy, joined scores of Australian lawyers, authors and journalists in signing the letter.
Noting the “increasingly violent rhetoric” directed towards Australian-born Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, the signatories said there were “grave concerns” for his safety. Penned by Victoria University academic Jeff Sparrow and human rights lawyer Lizzie O’Shea, the letter calls on Gillard to confirm Australia’s commitment to free political communication and uphold Assange’s basic rights.