Assange Prepares For US Charges Of Espionage 

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he is preparing for indictment on US espionage charges after being released on bail.

Speaking on arrival at the Suffolk country mansion he has been bailed to, he said the American legal action "had yet to be confirmed" but was "extremely serious".

The 39-year-old added he expected further smears against him relating to claims of sexual assault to be made public.

Sweden wants the Australian extradited from Britain over alleged sex offences committed in Stockholm while he was visiting the city in August.

But he is also expecting charges in the US related to the thousands of American embassy cables revealed on his website, WikiLeaks.

He told Sky News: "We have heard today from one of my US lawyers that there may be a US indictment for espionage for me coming from a secret grand jury investigation.

Clearing my name is not the highest work I have. Continuing my work is the highest work I have

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder

 

"There are obviously serious attempts to take down the content by taking us down as an organisation and take me down as an individual."

Standing in the snow to talk to reporters before entering the estate, Assange also accused Swedish authorities of hampering his attempts to fight the charges.

"I have yet to receive a single page of anything from this investigation in English," he said.

"My lawyers in Sweden only recently with one secret court hearing took hold of 100 pages of material, in Swedish, which is yet to be translated and given to me.

"That is only a fraction of the material. There is an attempt to gag my Swedish lawyer.

"Clearing my name is not the highest work I have. Continuing my work is the highest work I have."

A spokeswoman from the US Department of Justice would only confirm that there is "an ongoing investigation into the WikiLeaks matter".

Earlier on Thursday, judge Mr Justice Ouseley rejected arguments that Assange was a flight risk and renewed bail, pending moves to extradite him to Sweden.

The country's director of prosecutions said the British decision did "not change the state of the case itself".

The Crown Prosecution Service issued a statement in response to claims it had been behind the move to appeal against Assange's bail.

It said: "The CPS acts as agents for the Swedish government in the case concerning Mr Assange.

 Assange's mother Christine told reporters outside the High Court she was delighted

 

"The Swedish Director of Prosecutions this morning confirmed she fully supported the appeal."

Sky News' foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said: "CPS clearly felt they had to counter speculation that they had taken it on themselves.

"The statement fails to address who it really was that took the decision to oppose bail."

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