£140,000 Assange surety in balance

HIGH-PROFILE supporters of Julian Assange will have to wait to find out if they will lose £140,000 of surety cash after the Australian sought political asylum.

The WikiLeaks founder has been holed up at the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 19 June, a move which has already lost celebrity backers £200,000 they gave for his bail.

During a half-hour hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday supporters of Mr Assange were told a decision will be made in “a few days”.

Vaughan Smith, a friend who put up Mr Assange, 41, at his mansion for more than a year, addressed the court on behalf of the nine who put up £140,000 between them. He said all those who offered sureties, of varying amounts, are “convinced that they have done and are doing the right thing”.