WikiLeaks' Julian Assange arrested in London on rape charges
(Read article summary)The arrest, on rape charges from Sweden, comes after Julian Assange warned that WikiLeaks could release key US cables if anything 'happened' to him.
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Julian Assange, editor in chief of WikiLeaks, was arrested Tuesday morning in London on rape charges from Sweden, adding a new wrinkle to the ongoing furor over WikiLeaks' controversial release of hundreds of thousands of US diplomatic cables.
The British Press Association reports that Mr. Assange is expected to appear in court Tuesday after being arrested by Scotland Yard's extradition unit at 9:30 a.m., according to a Metropolitan Police spokesman. The spokesman said that Assange voluntarily came to the London police station, where he was arrested on a European Arrest Warrant from Swedish authorities for "one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape, all alleged to have been committed in August 2010." The Press Association noted that the Metropolitan Police received an arrest warrant last month on the same charges, but the warrant was invalid because it was not properly filled out.
Sky News reports that Assange will probably be released on bail of between £100,000 and £200,000 (between $150,000 and $320,000), though it seems unlikely that Assange would attempt to flee, as he denies all the charges against him.
