WikiLeaks founder fears ‘illegal’ probe by US

LONDON - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Friday gave a broad hint that he expects an indictment in the US against him for which he was in the process of building a strong defence.

“I would say that there is a very aggressive investigation, that a lot of face has been lost by some people, and some people have careers to make by pursuing famous cases, but that is actually something that needs monitoring,” Assange said in Britain.

He described the investigations as secret and illegal, and repeated his claim that the US was preparing to indict him on espionage charges.

The 39-year-old Australian was speaking to the media at Ellingham Hall, the English country mansion where he is staying after being granted bail by a High Court judge in London Thursday.

“We can see that by how certain people who are allegedly affiliated with us were contained at the US border and had their computers seized, and so on,” Assange said about his claim.

Although he had lawyers in the US, and received support from organizations such as the Centre of Constitutional Rights, he urged his supporters to be “more proactive” in building a strong defence.

Assange also revealed that he had pledged $50,000 to assist the defence of Bradley Manning, the US soldier and military analyst arrested in connection with the recent release of up to 250,000 US state department cables by WikiLeaks.

After himself spending time in a “black hole” in solitary confinement in prison it came as “no surprise” to him that Private Manning was reportedly suffering deteriorating health, said Assange.

He again accused the Swedish prosecuting authorities of not having provided a “single shred of evidence” with regard to the sex offence allegations made against him by two women.

He expected more leaked information relating to the allegations to be made public, said Assange, standing in the snow-covered garden of the country estate in Suffolk, south-east England.

However, he said that the majority of attacks made on his organization - technical, political and legal - had not come from the US but from banks about which WikiLeaks had released sensitive information.

He named banks in Dubai, Switzerland and Britain, but added that WikiLeaks would continue to release material about the activities of banks.

Assange maintained that over 85 percent of WikiLeaks’ economic resources were swallowed up by dealing with what he termed decapitation attacks.

However, WikiLeaks was “resilient” and “much bigger” than him and his immediate entourage.

Assange was freed Thursday after nine days in custody in a London jail, pending his extradition proceedings to Sweden which are due to start in the new year.

Meanwhile, police in Australia said Friday that the WikiLeaks founder had not broken any laws in his native country.

The government asked police two weeks ago whether Assange, an Australian citizen, had committed any criminal offence in releasing thousands of confidential US government cables through the WikiLeaks website.

“The Australian Federal Police has completed its evaluation of the material available and has not established the existence of any criminal offences where Australia would have jurisdiction,” the police force said in a statement released Friday.

The Defence Department also said Friday that the leaks had not damaged national security.

The referral to police came after Prime Minister Julia Gillard condemned Assange’s actions as “illegal”.

After the police announcement Friday, she clarified her position, saying the person who had leaked the US cables had committed the illegal act.

She said she was “no fan” of WikiLeaks and Assange’s role was “grossly irresponsible”.

But she said Assange was entitled to assistance from consular officials as was any citizen who faced legal problems overseas.