Swiss bank freezes Assange defense fund account as UK arrest warrant imminent

A Swiss bank reportedly froze Julian Assange's defense fund today, and authorities in the U.K. have 'received the paperwork' needed to issue their own arrest warrant for Wikileaks' founder.

Wikileaks posted a blog item this morning claiming Swiss Bank Post Finance froze the account because Assange used his lawyer's address for correspondence. Referring also to last week's decision by PayPal to shut off Wikileaks, the posting reports that €100,000 in donations is tied up in the two accounts.

The paperwork for a U.K. arrest warrant for Julian Assange was received by the Met this morning, according to the UK Press Association.

Assange is generally believed to be in London, where local police were apparently reluctant to arrest him on the basis of an international warrant issued last week.

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