Julian Assange’s celebrity backers, already down $318K in bail money, may lose even more Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/julian-assange-celebrity-backers-318k-bail-money-lose-article-1.1152551#ixzz25g4SxbuN


WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden. A court has ruled this violates the terms of his bail and could cost his celebrity backers as much as $500,000.

OLIVIA HARRIS/REUTERS

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden. A court has ruled this violates the terms of his bail and could cost his celebrity backers as much as $500,000.

Helping out WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is turning into an expensive affair for his celebrity friends, who have lost $318,272 in bail money and another nine could lose even more.
The additional nine did not give money to the court directly, but instead promised to pay up to $31,800 each on Assange’s behalf as “sureties.”
In a surprising revelation made Tuesday, a British court clerk told reporters that the first amount of money — which celebrities like director Michael Moore and socialite Jemima Khan allegedly gave the court — was taken because Assange breached conditions of bail.
The Australian anti-privacy activist was supposed to stay in a home in England, reported to the police daily, and keep to a 10 p.m.-to-8 a.m. curfew, according to the Telegraph.
But Assange broke these terms when he fled to an Ecuadorean embassy in a posh district of London in June. He sought asylum in the embassy because English authorities were set to send him to Sweden, where he is wanted for rape charges dating back to 2010.
These charges are just a ruse that Sweden plans to use in order to send him to the United States, Assange has said, claiming that he could face the death penalty in America.
European officials have denied Assange’s claims, with England’s foreign secretary, William Hague, even saying they are “without foundation.”

Whatever they think of the death penalty claims, nine other backers of Assange will have one month to convince the 41-year-old activist to surrender to police, district Howard Riddle said.

"At the moment I'm not persuaded that any reasonable surety would not be using every effort, publicly and privately, to persuade Mr. Assange to surrender himself to UK authorities," he told the Guardian.

These nine other backers include: Sir John Sulston, a Nobel prize-winning biologist; Caroline Evans, a famous politician’s wife; and Vaughan Smith, founder of the Frontline Club.
They also did not appear in court Tuesday, which Riddle said was "absolutely striking.”
A defense attorney for several of them, Henry Blaxland, said several of the backers were abroad, either working on projects or on holiday.

The total amount Assange’s backers could lose if they do not convince him to turn himself in to police totals over half-a-million dollars, according to the Guardian.