A screen shot of the newly restored WikiLeaks.org site
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — A London high court judge upheld an earlier decision Thursday to grant Julian Assange, founder of whistle-blower site WikiLeaks, while he fights extradition to Sweden on sex-crimes allegations.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service had launched an appeal Tuesday against a lower court’s decision to release Assange following extradition proceedings.
Swedish prosecutors were initally said to be responsible for the appeal, but according to a report by the Guardian, they have denied involvement with the decision.
Karin Rosander, a spokesperson for Sweden’s prosecutor’s office, told the Guardian that the “decision was made by the British prosecutor,” adding that “the Swedish prosecutors are not entitled to make decisions within Britain.”
Confusion over who appealed Assange’s bail prompted Anonymous, a loose-knit group of pro-WikiLeaks hackers, to launch a DDoS attack against the Swedish prosecutors’ website, bringing down the site for nearly 11 hours on Tuesday.
Britain’s prosecution service has confirmed that it made the appeal against Assange’s bail, however, it would not confirm whether Swedish prosecutors were involved.
Assange has been in London’s Wandsworth Prison since December 7 after he surrendered to local authorities over a Swedish sex-crimes warrant.
Though he denies any wrongdoing, Assange has refused extradition to Sweden where authorities want him back for questioning.
Last month WikiLeaks published 250,000 sensitive US diplomatic cables, angering US officials in the process. WikiLeaks supporters claim that this is the real motivation behind Assange’s imprisonment, although Sweden denies these charges.
With the help of WikiLeaks supporters, including filmmakers Michael Moore and Ken Loach, Assange’s lawyers have assembled the £200,000 bail, as well as a further £40,000 guaranteed in two sureties of £20,000.
Assange will be released within the next day or two under the condition that he stays at a country house in Suffolk, reports to police daily, and wears an electronic tag.
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