Nine people who put up bail for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange were ordered to pay £93,000 yesterday after Mr Assange broke the conditions of his bail when he entered the Ecuadorean embassy in June, shortly after running out of legal options to avoid being sent to Sweden.
The guarantors – who include Nobel prize-winning biologist John Sulston – are liable for part of the £140,000 bail fee they pledged, Westminster magistrates’ court ruled. They were given until November 6th to pay up.
Mr Assange, whose whistleblowing website angered the US by releasing thousands of US diplomatic cables, was arrested in December 2010 on an extradition warrant from Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault.