UPDATE: WikiLeaker Assange Arrested, Denied Bail in UK

[UPDATED BELOW] WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is no longer in hiding. The Australian was arrested after turning himself in this morning in the UK where he has been under wraps as his site deals with the fallout from the trove of a quarter-million diplomatic cables it's been slowly releasing to the public. Assange is due in court later today and it is currently unclear if he will challenge his extradition to Sweden—where he is wanted for questioning as part of a sex-crimes investigation (one which some find suspicious).

Of interest will be what happens once the extradition process begins, per the Guardian: "If extradited to Sweden under the [European Arrest Warrant]—a process which could be concluded quickly under the fast-track procedure—Assange will be vulnerable to other extradition requests from countries including the US."

Meanwhile, just because the WikiLeaks saga never has only one story in play, the website's finances took another blow yesterday when MasterCard joined PayPal in pulling the plug on payments to the site. "MasterCard is taking action to ensure that WikiLeaks can no longer accept MasterCard-branded products," the company said through a spokesman. Which means if you want to donate to the renegade site your options are increasingly limited.

Finally, for anyone worried about losing another source of the leaks, especially now that students are allowed to write about them, fret not: Facebook has no intention of pulling any of its leak-related pages they say. For now.

UPDATE: Assange was denied bail by a London court today and ordered to remain in custody until another court date on December 14. He is planning to resist extradition. And if you were worried, the leaks will still be coming. Also: Assange's sex crimes in Sweden may be that he didn't wear a condom.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Garth Johnston in News on December 7, 2010 10:41 AM

Comments [rss]

OSN!

The French president is highly intelligent but has a Napoleon complex

The Brit PM untested and a bit of a lightweight. The former Brit PM was a loon

The German chancellor cares primarily about domestic politics and is risk adverse and unimaginative. The German foreign minister is a lightweight and dufus.

The Italian PM is an overgrown fratboy

The Russian PM is a bonafide thug. The Russian president is weak and plays second fiddle to the PM.

Canada suffers from a national inferiority complex and many Canadians have a chip on their shoulder regarding the U.S.

Iran's Arab neighbors don't want Iran to become a regional power, fear Muslim extremism [and democracy], and would like to see the U.S. and/or Israel start a war with Iran.

The Saudis and other gulf states talk out of both sides of their mouths.

...CAN someone please tell me what's news here? OLD news is more like it.

Helen Thomas knows the score

how about the one about about the US contractor having rent boys in Afghanstan?

or the UN spying?

Or the Israeli war mongering?

theres plenty of info in these leaks

OSN!

Please. The 'Rent Boys' are apparently called 'Dancing Boys' [English translation] and a big if funky tradition in Afghanistan. I'll bet every dollar they're 'hired' as a joke. However, the contractor antics are already WELL-KNOW and publicized. The Wikileaks haven't appreciatively added to the story.

UN spying? I'm shocked! Shocked spying is going on @ the UN! Please *yawn* nothing to see here....same old,same old. NOBODY except naive, gullible people should be surprised by this story.

Israeli warmongering? Honestly, NO ONE in the leaks comes out looking like boy scouts. NO ONE. Not the U.S., not the Euros, not the Brits, not the Chinese, not the Russians, not the Arabs, not the Persians,not the Israelis, etc.,

Sketto

Sure, investigate the rape claims. It's a serious accusation and deserves scrutiny. If he's truly guilty, he should be prosecuted.

However! Let's also thoroughly investigate the accusers. Because, unlike most accused rapists, this guy just recently pissed off many very powerful people around the world, and so it's reasonable to suspect that the charges may be their way of retaliating. Rape is indefensible, but we also know that the mere accusation of rape is so serious that it damages the accused regardless of the truth. These charges at this time are very suspicious.

The power and resources of his opponents makes me believe that they would do anything to stop him, including accusing him of anything and everything. It's just too damn suspicious. Requires much, much more investigation on all sides.

Reflect

Im all for assange.., but this comment thing is pissing me off. Im wondering why i dont see everyone... Hide and show replys? Why the hell would i wanna have to press a 10 more buttons just to read all comments.... Im after 5 yrs im ready to leave this site if this is true...

kekule

Is that picture of a young Bill Maher?

chuzzlewit

here, from the horses mouth:
it's pretty straightforward.

http://bit.ly/g6EVyq

S.D.

It's a well written piece, but not why he was arrested.

At the end of the day, IMO, he goes to Sweden, addresses the allegations in court, gets this sorted out and leaves.

chuzzlewit

fair enough.

S.D.

Remember: you have to remind me...
;)

ides_of_march

No condom eh? You might say he got busted for letting his Wiki Leak.

S.D.

...
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SFNY

Here is an article from The Daily Mail back in August that details much of the police report of Woman B: http://tinyurl.com/TheDailyMai...

The charges were reduced within 24 hours of the filing back in August, only to resurface right after the disputed docs are leaked.

Let's allow the courts to determine the outcome on the personal charges while journalists get back to the bigger story, the content of the leaks.

The public is still interested in what the remaining leaks reveal, but it's difficult to find any information since the conversation has been changed to something irresistibly prurient.

S.D.

"Let's allow the courts to determine the outcome on the personal charges"
Exactly my point.

Matt Casey

I don't know, I'm pretty sure nobody in the US would classify the allegations as "rape": the lawyer said that Julian Assange had consensual sex with two women, but that he was not wearing a condom, which apparently constitutes rape under Swedish law. [http://blogs.dailymail.com/don...]

ides_of_march

I that's indeed the case, the Swedes have basically outlawed procreation.

S.D.

IMO, Bad example, up till 15 years ago, some US states did not prosecute date rape..

In any case: Was that blog post based on statements his lawyer made?

Guest

who is that ugly girl?

ides_of_march

The administration is willing to endure some embarrassment over the leaks as long as they can use it as an excuse to control the internet. Just wait.

starstruck13

Im thinking the government already controls the internet considering so many major corporations have pulled their support of wikileaks due to government pressure.

Regardless, I myself have never been on the site, but when my friends overseas tell me their lives are in even more danger than normal due to stuff posted on that site, I am all for it being pulled down.