LOC21:23
18:23 GMT
LONDON, Oct 3 (KUNA) -- High profile supporters of Julian Assange will have
to wait to find out if they will lose 140,000 pounds of surety cash after the
Australian sought political asylum, a court was told this evening.
The Wikileaks founder has been holed up at the Ecuadorian Embassy since
June 19th , a move which has already lost celebrity backers 200,000 pounds
they gave for his bail.
During a half-hour hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court today,
supporters of 41-year-old Assange were told a decision will be made in "a few
days."
Vaughan Smith, a friend who put Assange up at his country mansion for more
than a year, addressed the court on behalf of the nine who put up 140,000
pounds between them.
He said all those who offered sureties, of varying amounts, are "convinced
that they have done and are doing the right thing."
Arguing why they should not lose their money, he told Chief Magistrate
Howard Riddle: "We don't see how justice is served by punishing us for having
done our best to serve the public interest in this complex and challenging
case.
"We submit that the sureties are wholly blameless, that we have worked
assiduously to help Assange to meet the requirements of the court.
"We all want Assange to be able to clear his name and have done everything
with our diminishing influence to see the current impasse resolved and justice
served."
Meanwhile, Former Army officer Smith put 20,000 pounds towards the total
surety.
Smith said the group agreed they should not urge Assange to leave the
embassy, so they stand more of a chance of keeping their money, because that
would make them "mercenary and contemptible individuals."
He told the court: "We never envisaged when we agreed to become sureties
that the matter would become a diplomatic argument and it is clear that this
needs to be resolved at a governmental level.
"We request that sureties in this case be treated gracefully, in a manner
that reflects the impossible position that we are in.
"In this unique, this quite exceptional case, complying with what this
court seems to expect from us, to all publicly urge Assange to abandon the
sanctuary that he has found in the Ecuadorian embassy, would see us acting
against a man whom we and others judge to have understandable fears about his
ultimate treatment in the United States if he abandons his asylum.
The Australian sought asylum after he lost a legal battle against
extradition to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sexual assault, which he
denies.
A group of supporters including the celebrities Jemima Khan, journalist,
John Pilger and film director Ken Loach have already lost 200,000 pounds after
Assange broke his bail conditions by fleeing to the embassy.
Judge Riddle's decision will be sent to the sureties and the press, without
a court hearing taking place.
He said: "I'm not going to give a decision (today), because there's a lot
to read, and a fair amount to think about."
Wikileaks was responsible for leaking a large number of sensitive
confidential US documents to the international media.
This has caused a huge uproar and embarrassment to the American authorities
and to many other countries. (end)
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