US News

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange thanks his supporters as British court frees him on bail

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange thanked his supporters and said it was great to breathe fresh air again after a British court ordered his release from jail on bail Thursday.

Speaking outside London High Court, Assange, 39, paid tribute to “all the people around the world who have had faith in me.”

He also thanked “members of the press who are not all taken in.”

Assange, who is fighting deportation to Sweden, where he faces sexual assault charges, said of the British justice system: “If justice is not always an outcome, it is at least not dead yet.”

He added: “I hope to continue my work and continue to protest my innocence in this matter.”

British prosecutors, acting for the Swedish authorities, had mounted an appeal against a lower court’s decision on Tuesday to free the 39-year-old pending extradition proceedings.

Swedish authorities want Assange to face charges of rape and sexual molestation, which he denies.

According to a Sky News reporter inside the courthouse, the presiding judge ruled Thursday that he was “content that Julian Assange is no longer a substantial flight risk.” The judge also cited possible weaknesses in the Swedish sex crimes case against Assange. He noted past cooperation by the WikiLeaks boss with the Swedish authorities.

Lawyer Mark Stephens said: “As you can imagine, we are utterly delighted with the result here today. We think it was an unnecessary appeal … and it really evidences part of a continuing vendetta on the part of the Swedes against Julian Assange.”

In a statement, Swedish prosecutor, Marianne Ny, refused to be drawn on the matter: “From the Swedish prosecutor’s perspective, the decision does not change the state of the case itself,” she said. “As I have already stated I cannot, at the moment, provide information concerning the development of the matter. The question concerning surrender is handled by British authorities.”

Sky News reported before the hearing that it was the British authorities who in fact tried to keep him at London’s Wandsworth Prison. A spokeswoman for the Swedish prosecution service told Sky: “The decision to appeal against the granting of bail to Assange was entirely a British decision. The Swedish authorities had nothing to do with it.”

Britain’s prosecution service confirmed it made the call to appeal against bail, but would not comment on Swedish involvement.

A spokeswoman said: “It is standard practice on all extradition cases that decisions regarding bail are taken by the domestic prosecuting authority.

“It would not be practical for prosecutors in a foreign jurisdiction, who are neither present in court when decisions are made, nor familiar with the domestic laws concerning bail, to make such decisions.”