It's UK Prosecutors, Not Swedes, Who Want Assange in Jail

(Dec. 15) -- In a bizarre twist, it turns out that it's British authorities who want Julian Assange kept in a London jail while he awaits possible extradition to Sweden -- not the Swedes, as had been widely thought.

Swedish prosecutors, in fact, won't even be involved in Thursday's appeal of the recent decision granting Assange bail.

The Swedish prosecutor's office told the Guardian today that Britain had made the decision to appeal a judge's decision Tuesday to grant bail to the WikiLeaks founder while he fights extradition to Sweden -- despite widespread reports to the contrary.

Among those who thought Sweden was appealing the decision to grant Assange bail were his own attorneys, who reacted to today's news with "shock," the Guardian reported.

Assange's lawyers told the newspaper that British prosecutors told them it was the Swedes who were opposing bail for Assange -- which sounded logical, since Sweden wants him for questioning on sex-crime allegations.

Assange's lawyer told Bloomberg News that Sweden didn't ask Britain to appeal the judge's ruling and it was "confusing" as to why British prosecutors decided to appeal.

"The question is, why did they make this decision if they said yesterday that they were acting on behalf of the Swedish authorities?" Mark Stephens said. "It's fair to say that this is all a bit fishy. The whole case reeks."

This latest development comes amid reports that the U.S. is closer than ever to indicting Assange under the controversial and archaic Espionage Act and seeking his extradition. The U.S. government has been angered by his organization's recent release of hundreds of secret diplomatic cables, which comes months after the site leaked classified military documents on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"From what I've heard, the impetus to get an indictment is growing rapidly," David B. Rivkin Jr., a Washington attorney who is an expert on constitutional law and a former Justice Department official, told AOL News today.

Rivkin, who wrote an article in USA Today about how the Espionage Act can be used to prosecute Assange, said he is not surprised that efforts are being made to keep the WikiLeaks boss in jail.

Assange is due Thursday in the high court, where the Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, will try to reverse Tuesday's decision by a judge at City of Westminster magistrates' court to set bail at $380,000.

"The decision [to appeal the bail] was made by the British prosecutor," Karin Rosander, director of communications for the Swedish prosecutor's office, told the Guardian.

"I got it confirmed by the CPS this morning that the decision to appeal the granting of bail was entirely a matter for the CPS. The Swedish prosecutors are not entitled to make decisions within Britain. It is entirely up to the British authorities to handle it," she said.

On Tuesday it was thought the appeal had been lodged by Swedish prosecutors with the CPS acting "merely as its representative," the Guardian said.

In response to questions from the Guardian, the CPS confirmed what Rosander said, stating: "In all extradition cases, decisions on bail issues are always taken by the domestic prosecuting authority. It would not be practical for prosecutors in a foreign jurisdiction ... to make such decisions."

AOL News was not able to reach representatives for the CPS for further explanation this evening.

The British prosecutors plan to ask that Assange be kept at Wandsworth Prison, where he is being held in solitary, until a decision is made as to whether or not to extradite the 39-year-old Australian to Sweden. That process could take months.

Because it's Britain that is appealing the bail, Sweden won't be arguing anything in court on Thursday, Rosander said.

"The Swedish authorities are not involved in these proceedings. We have not got a view at all on bail," she said.

Sweden issued a warrant for Assange's arrest and extradition last week over sexual assault allegations made by two Swedish women last summer, and he turned himself in. He denies the allegations.