LONDON- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested and remanded in custody by a British court today over allegations of sex crimes in Sweden.
Assange, whose WikiLeaks website is at the centre of a furious row over the release of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, was arrested under a European Arrest Warrant today after handing himself in to London police.
Assange, who denies the allegations, will remain behind bars until a fresh hearing on December 14.
He has spent some time in Sweden and was accused this year of sexual misconduct by two female Swedish WikiLeaks volunteers. A Swedish prosecutor wants to question him about the accusation.
WikiLeaks, which has provoked fury in Washington with its publications, vowed it would continue making public details of the 250,000 secret U.S. documents it had obtained.
U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates welcomed news of the arrest. “I hadn’t heard that but it sounds like good news to me,” Gates told reporters during a trip to Afghanistan.
At a court hearing in London, Senior District Judge Howard Riddle said: “There are substantial grounds to believe he could abscond if granted bail.”
He said the allegations were serious, and that Assange had comparatively weak community ties in Britain. (Reuters)
