Assange due to make fresh bail bid at London court

LONDON - Julian Assange, the Australian founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website, is expected Tuesday to make another bid to be freed on bail a week after his arrest in London.

The 39-year-old, who was remanded in custody Dec 7, will fight attempts to extradite him to Sweden for alleged sex offences when he appears at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court for a hearing later Tuesday.

If he should be denied bail a second time, he is expected to appeal at the High Court. A number of high profile campaigners, including film producer Ken Loach and human rights activist Jemima Khan, have offered to put up bail.

Last week, a judge refused bail on the grounds that Assange was alleged to have committed serious offences and could abscond.

The accusations against him include rape and molestation in one case and molestation and unlawful coercion in a second. They have nothing to do with the recent stream of publications of confidential US diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks.

Assange has denied the allegations, which he has claimed stem from a dispute over “consensual but unprotected sex”.