Thursday 16 December 2010

'Brit prosecutors not Swedes want Assange in jail'


Sensational story in the Guardian that the decision to have WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remanded in custody in a London jail was taken by the British authorities and not by prosecutors in Sweden, as previously reported.

The Crown Prosecution Service will go to the High Court today to seek the reversal of a decision to free the WikiLeaks founder on bail, made by a judge at City of Westminster magistrates court.

The Guardian says: "It had been widely thought Sweden had made the decision to oppose bail, with the CPS acting merely as its representative. But today the Swedish prosecutor's office told the Guardian it had 'not got a view at all on bail' and that Britain had made the decision to oppose bail.

"Lawyers for Assange reacted to the news with shock and said CPS officials had told them this week it was Sweden which had asked them to ensure he was kept in prison."

The Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer, speaking on the Today programme this morning, suggested the CPS was acting "as an agent" for the Swedish prosectors.
  • Pic: Protester outside Westminster Magistrates' Court during Julian Assange's bail hearing. (Jon Slattery)

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