Assange freed on bail, but faces possible US charges

UPDATED 7.10am Friday Dec 17: Just before 6pm local time (7am Friday NZ time), WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange walked free from a London court.

READ ALSO: What the WikiLeaks cables don’t tell you

UK prosecutors - acting on behalf of Swedish authorities - lost their bid to block Mr Assange's bail. He still faces a hearing on extradition to Sweden, where a court wants to question him on alleged sex crimes, on January 11.

But despite his new-found freedom (with posh digs but strict limitations on his movements, see below), more trouble looms for the controversial Australian.

The New York Times has reported that US Federal prosecutors are preparing charges against Mr Assange.

Justice Department officials are investigating whether the WikiLeaks boss encouraged or assisted Pfc Bradley Manning to extract classified military and State Department files.

If so, Mr Assange could be named a conspirator in the leak, not just as a passive recipient of the documents who then published them, and charges laid.

Private Manning is being held in US army custody.

According to the Times account, Private Manning befriended a computer hacker, Adrian Lamo, who eventually turned the soldier in.

Mr Lamo told the paper that Private Manning had been in direct contact with Mr Assange via instant messaging, and that a dedicated WikiLeaks server was provided for the solider to upload the 250,000 leaked diplomatic cables.

However, Mr Lamo could only recite the online instant messaging conversations from memory, as the FBI had seized his hard drive.

A part transcript of Mr Lamo and Private Mannings' online chat, published on Wired's website, makes no mention of direct contact with Mr Assange.

Bail conditions

• £240,000 surety (still being raised by supporters)
• Daily curfew from 10am-2pm and 10pm-2am
• Passport (already confiscated) will remain with police
• Must report to the police station at 6pm every day
• Must live at court-approved address (Ellingham Hall - pictured - a Georgian mansion owned by a wealthy WikiLeaks supporter)

6am Wednesday, Dec 15: A UK judge ordered that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange be freed on £240,000 bail, the BBC has reported.

The ruling came at 2.25pm Tuesday local time (3.25am Wednesday NZ time).

However, as of 5pm, Mr Assange was still behind bars as supporters, including John Pilger and Jemima Khan, scrambled to arrange funds for his surety.

They should have moved faster. 

Before Mr Assange could work free, Swedish authorities appealed the bail decision.

Judge Howard Riddle ordered that the WikiLeaks founder remain in custody until the appeal was heard. It is promised within 48 hours.

If he wins the appeal, Judge Riddle has ordered that Mr Assange must reside at a court-approved address - Ellingham Hall, a Georgian mansion in Bungay, eastern England, owned by Vaughan Smith, the founder of The Frontline Club. a media club in London and a WikiLeaks supporter.

Mr Assange must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet around his ankle (of which one internet wag immediately offered: "Dear Anonymous: Don't DDoS Assange's ankle bracelet. It won't help," - a reference to Denial of Service hack attacks on Visa and MasterCard in support of WikiLeaks after the company refused to process donations).

The WikiLeaks founder is also subject to a curfew every day from 10pm to 2am, and 10am to 2pm.

Additionally, Mr Assange is required to report to a police station every day at 6pm.

His passport will remain with police.

He will reappear in court on January 11.

Confusion reigned outside the court as Mr Assange failed to appear.

The Guardian reported that around 30 protesters, including Mr Assange's mother Christine, were out-numbered by media.

Crusading journalist John Pilger complained that the WikiLeaks founder was being held in solitary confinement - unaware, according to The Guardian - that the arrangement was by Mr Assange's request.

Mr Assange - the subject of an Interpol international arrest warrant - surrendered to police in London on December 8. He was initially denied bailed, judged a flight risk because of his international contacts and access to funds.

The WikiLeaks founder gained worldwide when his site began to drip-feed 250,000 leaked US diplomatic cables to selected media.

However, his arrest was over un-related sex crimes, for which he has not been charged, but is wanted for questioning by a Swedish court, which issued a warrant for his arrest when he failed to front.