Assange backers hit with bail bill

9 Oct 2012, 11:09 am   -   Source: AAP
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Assange has been granted political asylum by Ecuador but faces arrest if he leaves the embassy after breaking bail conditions. (AAP)

Assange has been granted political asylum by Ecuador but faces arrest if he leaves the embassy after breaking bail conditions. (AAP)

People who put up surety for Julian Assange before he went into the Ecuardorian embassy in London have been ordered to pay money.

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Backers who stood as sureties for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange before he took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London have been ordered to pay thousands of pounds.

Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle said the nine had to pay STG93,500 ($A149,480.42) by November 6.

Australian-born Assange has been in Ecuador's London embassy since June as part of his bid to avoid extradition to Sweden.

He fears being sent to the United States if he travels to Sweden, to face interrogation over the whistle-blowing website.

He has been granted political asylum by Ecuador but faces arrest if he leaves the embassy after breaking bail conditions.

Vaughan Smith, a friend who put Assange up at his country mansion for more than a year, addressed Westminster Magistrates Court last week on behalf of the nine, who put up STG140,000 ($A223,820.94) between them.

He said all those who offered sureties, of varying amounts, are "convinced that they have done and are doing the right thing".

In his ruling today, the Chief Magistrate said he accepted that the nine had all acted in good faith.

"I accept that they trusted Mr Assange to surrender himself as required. I accept that they followed the proceedings and made necessary arrangements to remain in contact with him.

"However, they failed in their basic duty, to ensure his surrender. They must have understood the risk and the concerns of the courts.

"Both this court and the High Court assessed that there were substantial grounds to believe the defendant would abscond, and that the risk could only be met by stringent conditions including the sureties," he said.

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Your Comments

Good on them-- Heroes!

Citizen - from Perth, 7 months ago

They are truly heroic and selfless and I wish I could contribute financially to stand up to this injustice.

julian assange

frank christensen - from kariong central coast, 7 months ago

he bites the hands that feed him, they should know julian only thinks of him self and know one else

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