Assange Lashes out at Australia, Sweden following Asylum Bid

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange denounced Australia and Sweden on Friday, as he expressed his fears that he end up in the hands of the United States.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange denounced Australia and Sweden on Friday, as he expressed his fears that he end up in the hands of the United States. Assange

In his first remarks after he turned up at the Ecuadorian embassy in London requesting political asylum, Assange said he sought asylum because he was not prepared to go to Sweden under the terms in which he believed he would be held there.

"The Swedes announced publicly that they would detain me in prison, without charge, while they continued their so-called investigation," he said.
Assange, Australian, sought asylum on Tuesday in a dramatic bid to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of rape and sexual assault.

"We had heard that the Ecuadorians were sympathetic in relation to my struggles and the struggles of the organization with the United States," the former computer hacker added.

He voiced fear that he would end up in the hands of the United States, which he says want to try him for divulging American secrets.
But he said there was as yet no current US indictment against him.
"Of course not, at the moment the matter is before the grand jury," he told ABC. "Until it comes out of the grand jury there will not be such evidence afforded."

WikiLeaks enraged Washington by releasing a flood of classified US information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as more than 250,000 classified US diplomatic cables that embarrassed a slew of governments.

'AUSTRALIA DID NOTHING TO ASSANGE'

Assange said he chose the Ecuadorian embassy ahead of his home country's because he felt Canberra had done nothing to protect him, a charge the government has denied.
"There are serious issues here, and they are being hidden by the slimy rhetoric coming out of the US ambassador to Australia, via (Australian Prime Minister Julia) Gillard... and that needs to stop," said Assange.

Earlier on Thursday, a spokesman for the whistleblower website said the Wikileaks founder would remain inside the embassy while Ecuador considers his request, a process that could take "hours or days."
For his part, Ecuador's president Rafael Correa said his government would mull Assange’s request.