A British judge will rule Thursday whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has angered Washington by publishing secret diplomatic cables, may be freed on bail over alleged sex crimes in Sweden.
High Court Justice Duncan Ouseley must decide whether to confirm or overturn a lower court's ruling that the 39-year-old Australian could be freed on 200,000 pounds ($317,000) bail, under stringent conditions.
Assange and his lawyers arrived at the courthouse Thursday morning well ahead of the hearing. One of his lawyers, Mark Stephens, told NBC News that he believed they had enough money to post Assange's bail.
On Wednesday, Assange's lawyers said they only had half of the funds needed.
WikiLeaks has provoked U.S. fury by publishing part of a trove of 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables, including details of overseas sites that Washington regards as vital to its security.
Within hours of Senior District Judge Howard Riddle's Tuesday decision to grant Assange bail, prosecutors gave notice they would appeal, forcing Assange to return to London's Wandsworth prison where he has been held for more than a week.
"I think the district judge made the right decision. We hope the High Court agrees," Jennifer Robinson, one of Assange's lawyers, told Reuters.
The Swedish Prosecutors Office said Thursday that it was U.K. authorities, not Swedish authorities, who appealed the decision.
"This has been a misunderstanding," spokeswoman Karin Rosander said. "We don't have the right to appeal within the U.K."
Prosecution lawyer Gemma Lindfield argued in court this week that Assange was a "significant flight risk" and that no conditions set by the court could prevent his flight.
Assange is fighting attempts to extradite him to Sweden for questioning over allegations of sexual misconduct including rape made by two female WikiLeaks volunteers, which he denies.
"It's an ongoing investigation in Sweden and the prosecutor needs to interrogate him to make a decision on the matter," Rosander said.
Celebrity backing
The media, a curious public and Assange supporters, including celebrities such as journalist John Pilger, film director Ken Loach and socialite Jemima Khan, are again expected in the courtroom for the hearing, which starts at 11:30 GMT (6:30 a.m. ET).
Internet activists have targeted websites of organizations they believe have obstructed WikiLeaks, including Visa, MasterCard and the Swedish prosecutor's office, whose website was out of action for 12 hours on Tuesday night.
Britain's Sky News said it had spoken to a spokesman from "Anonymous," a loose group of activists, who said their pool of targets was very limited and would not include the media.
"We are going after the agencies that were directly involved in the censorship of WikiLeaks," said the spokesman, who called himself "Bass."
"They include PayPal who cut off service and withheld funds. The same with Visa and MasterCard, then Amazon who cut off their service support," he said.
Another hearing on the Swedish attempt to extradite Assange is expected in early February.
Bail conditions set by Riddle stipulate that Assange must stay at a country house in eastern England owned by a supporter, report to police daily and wear an electronic tag.
Assange and his lawyers have voiced fears that U.S. prosecutors may be preparing to indict him for espionage over WikiLeaks' publication of the documents.
The New York Times reported that federal prosecutors were looking for evidence that Assange had conspired with a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst suspected of leaking classified documents in order to bring charges against him.
Legal experts say that, in the event that the United States did prosecute him, it would be easier to extradite him from Britain — which has a fast-track extradition treaty with Washington — than from Sweden.
If Assange was extradited to Sweden on the sex crime allegations, Sweden could not then extradite him to the United States to face hypothetical charges over the leak of classified information without getting Britain's permission, Geoff Gilbert, a law professor at the University of Essex, told Reuters.