Wikipocrisy? Lawyers: Julian Assange's Address Should Be Private

LONDON, Dec. 15, 2010— -- He may have leaked more than a quarter-million classified U.S. diplomatic cables, but there's one thing Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's lawyers don't want anyone to know about him: where he'll stay if he's makes bond.

Lawyers for the man dedicated to information sharing argued at a bond hearing Tuesday that a possible location for Assange's stay while he's out on bond in England should not be made public due to privacy concerns, a rationale that drew chuckles from those in attendance. The home, belonging to friend and supporter Vaughn Smith, is reportedly a sprawling 10-bedroom estate. The motion for privacy was denied.

Assange is currently being held in a London prison on sexual assault charges including rape originating out of Sweden. Tuesday a judge granted him $315,000 bond, but Swedish prosecutors appealed the decision. A decision on the appeal is expected by Thursday.

Assange's lawyer, Mark Stephens, said Tuesday his client was "very pleased" with the London court's ruling, but said before the appeal was announced that raising the $315,000 cash bond would take "an inordinately long period of time."

"Meanwhile, an innocent man remains in jail... in Dickensian conditions," Stephens said.

If he is able to post the bond, Assange must surrender his passport and stay in the United Kingdom where he plans to stay with a friend, the London judge ruled Tuesday. He will have an electronic tag to verify that he is at that address overnight and must daily report to police.

Several supporters have offered to assist in paying Assange's bail, including documentary filmmaker Michael Moore who pledged $20,000.

Assange has been held in solitary confinement -- for his own protection, the jail said. His lawyers said he is being held in a wing normally reserved for convicted criminals, cut off from other prisoners and is only allowed a half hour a day outside the cell.

U.S. Criminal Investigation of Document Drop

Though he's currently being held on the sexual assault charges, Assange could also be the target of coming espionage charges from the U.S., one of his lawyers told ABC News last week.

The timing of the arrest earlier this week led a Wikileaks spokesperson, Stephens and hundreds of Assange's supporters to claim the sex charges were part of a political effort to marginalize the Wikileaks founder in the face of the document drop, which has proved an embarrassment and potential security risk for the U.S. government.

But a lawyer for the two Swedish women accusing Assange said the charges are in no way politically motivated and the woman are angry at that suggestion.

Assange has denied the sex crimes charges and after his arrest, Stephens told ABC News Assange is ready "to vindicate himself and clear his good name."

In a jailhouse statement passed through his mother to an Australian news station, Assange reportedly said that his "convictions are unfaltering."

"I remain true to the ideals I have expressed. This circumstance shall not shake them," Assange wrote, according to a Australia's 7 News Tuesday. "If anything this process has increased my determination that they are true and correct."

Last week, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the release of the documents had put the United States at risk and said he authorized a criminal investigation into Assange.

"The lives of people who work for the American people has been put at risk; the American people themselves have been put at risk by these actions that are, I believe, arrogant, misguided and ultimately not helpful in any way. We are doing everything that we can," Holder said Tuesday. "We have a very serious, active, ongoing investigation that is criminal in nature. I authorized just last week a number of things to be done so that we can hopefully get to the bottom of this and hold people accountable, as they -- as they should be."

Outspoken critics of the document drop, including President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said they believe the formerly classified material is more than just embarrassing for the slights against foreign leaders, but potentially disastrous for U.S. strategy abroad.

"We have gotten indications that there is at least some change in how individuals and governments cooperate with us, and share information," Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said last week. There's a vague "sense that there has been some pulling back because of these revelations."

Speaking a press conference Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the leak could "create potential dangers for our friends and partners."