JULIAN Assange strode to freedom on the steps of the High Court in London and vowed his Wikileaks website would fight on. The 39-year-old Australian was released after nine days in the Victorian-era Wandsworth prison when the High Court said he should be granted bail while he resists extradition to Sweden on sex abuse allegations that he claims are a crude attempt to silence him. After a day of uncertainty about his fate, Mr Assange and his legal team walked outside the court yesterday into a light snow storm on The Strand to address about 200 journalists from around the world. “It's great to smell the fresh air of London again,” he said. “First, some thankyous. To all the people around the world who have had faith in me, who have supported my team while I have been away. “To my lawyers, who have put up a brave and ultimately successful fight, to our sureties (bail guarantors) and people who have provided money in the face of great difficulty and aversion. “And to members of the press who are not all taken in, and considered to look deeper in their work. “And I guess finally, to the British justice system itself, where if justice is not always the outcome at least it is not dead yet. “During my time in solitary confinement in the bottom of a Victorian prison I had time to reflect on the conditions of those people around the world also in solitary confinement, also on remand, in conditions that are more difficult than those faced by me. “Those people also need your attention and support. “And with that I hope to continue my work and continue to protest my innocence in this matter and to reveal, as we get it, which we have not yet, the evidence from these allegations.” Justice Duncan Ouseley rejected an appeal against Mr Assange's bail by Swedish authorities, who claimed if he was set free he might flee rather than face charges in Sweden that he allegedly committed four sex offences against two women in what began as consensual sexual encounters. Justice Ouseley said one reason he believed Mr Assange was unlikely to abscond was that the allegations against him in Sweden did not seem to be “a cast iron case… so he has some prospects of success”. Evidence that one Swedish prosecutor felt there was no case against Mr Assange before another prosecutor disagreed and decided to pursue the matter suggested that the case “would be one that could be resisted by an innocent man,” said Justice Ouseley. Mr Assange denies the allegations of sexual abuse and insists the Swedish prosecution is a politically motivated attempt to stop his website from revealing US government secrets. The internet publisher's release was delayed by a scramble to meet the court's demand for a
