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This Article is From Dec 18, 2010

WikiLeaks founder Assange fears extradition to US

WikiLeaks founder Assange fears extradition to US
London: The founder of the website WikiLeaks said on Friday he feared the US was getting ready to indict him.

Speaking outside Beccles Police Station in Suffolk, Julian Assange said he was very concerned about his predicament.

"The bigger issue is now, is the case that appears to be building against me and possibly other members of our staff in the United States."

Assange was released on bail on Thursday from a London jail.

He is wanted in Sweden for questioning about sex allegations levelled against him by two women he spent time with while visiting the country in August.

He must reside at a supporter's 600-acre estate in eastern England, wear an electronic tag and report to police daily.

Assange has denied any wrongdoing, but has said that he is concerned that if he goes to Sweden he may eventually be sent to the United States on charges related to the leaks.

He claimed that the allegations against him of sex crimes were part of a smear campaign, but Sweden said they stem from serious allegations made by two women.

The US government suspects WikiLeaks received the documents from an Army private, Bradley Manning, who is in jail on charges of leaking other classified documents to the organisation.

On Friday Assange said the US was "failing to follow the rule of law."

"There has been many calls by senior political figures in the United States, including elected ones in the Senate, for my execution, the execution of my staff, the execution of the young soldier Bradley Manning who they allege is embroiled in these affairs somehow. It's a very, very serious business," he said.

However, due the level of scrutiny from what Assange called "the court of public opinion", he admitted that the British justice system had played his case "pretty strictly by the book."

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