This was in The Guardian tonight. Note, due to a time zone error, I mistakenly said that Assange’s hearing would be Wednesday; it is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon London time — right in the midst of the triple conjunction. Here is a segment of the latest article in The Guardian; the full piece is here.
The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, will try to win his release from prison tomorrow, a week after being ordered to be held on remand as Sweden requested his arrest over allegations that he sexually assaulted two women.
But even if the judge at Westminster magistrates court in London grants Assange bail, he could still be held.
The Crown Prosecution Service, which will represent the Swedish authorities in the UK court, has the right to appeal against any bail decision. Usually the suspect would still be held in custody anyway until an appeal hearing.
Raj Joshi, a former head of the European and international division at the CPS, and an expert on extradition, said: “If they feel they have grounds for opposing bail, they would be duty bound to appeal that. He’ll be held pending the appeal, and until it is decided. That hearing is usually held within 48 hours.”
Also, there is a Federal Grand Jury in Alexandria VA considering how (“whether”) to indict Assange. Here are clips from two articles about that, quoting his attorney Stephens and US Attorney Holder. (What do we know about the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act????):
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/12/assange-grand-jury/
Report: Federal Grand Jury Considering Charges Against WikiLeaks’ Assange
By Kim Zetter
December 13, 2010 |
2:28 pm
A U.S. federal grand jury is reportedly meeting to consider possible criminal charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, according to a lawyer for Assange.
The grand jury has met secretly in Alexandria, Virginia, according to Mark Stephens, an attorney for Assange.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder indicated last week that he had authorized “significant” actions in the criminal investigation into WikiLeaks, but would not go into details. The United States could bring charges against Assange under the Espionage Act for disseminating classified U.S. State Department cables and other information.
Or, the Justice Department could bring a conspiracy charge against Assange under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, if investigators have evidence that Assange incited or aided someone in obtaining the documents illegally. The latter charge would help prosecutors avoid First Amendment issues that come with charging Assange under the Espionage Act.
The Espionage Act, which dates to 1917, has never been successfully used against a media organization, but this doesn’t mean Assange is in the clear….
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h9YSUuqdE4htzsjm-GPDib93ipmg?docId=CNG.9567db7c53d50c9a061453a81786b8d0.12f1
(excerpt:)
Stephens said in an interview with Al Jazeera, citing unnamed Swedish authorities, that “there has been a secretly impaneled grand jury in Alexandria,” Virginia, just outside Washington.
If the report proves true, it could mean an indictment of Assange is possible.
The Australian Assange became the world’s most wanted man after he dumped to several media 250,000 US diplomatic cables in late November. So far, 1,300 have been published. He is currently being held in Britain on sex assault claims in Sweden which is seeking his extradition.
But according to Stephens, “we understand that if it comes to Sweden they will defer their interest in him to the Americans. That shows some level of collusion and embarrassment,” he stressed….
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