As his car pushed through the throng of cameras outside Westminster magistrates’ court on Tuesday, Julian Assange may have speculated on the dark forces he believes are conspiring against him.
The WikiLeaks founder had moved often between countries since the launch of his website in 2006, worried that the authorities would catch up. Now they had, jailing him for a week prior to extradition hearings relating to rape charges brought by two women he had met on an August trip to Sweden. Tall, thin and dressed in a white shirt, Mr Assange was described as looking calm in court as the details were read out. But having only been able to provide an address in his native Australia, he was refused bail – despite several celebrities and anonymous donors offering a combined surety of £180,000.
Coming soon after the release of hundreds of secret US diplomatic cables, the arrest added yet more drama to an already combustible story of spying, secrecy and sexual politics that had sharply divided world opinion. To his supporters Mr Assange is a hero of radical transparency, fearlessly exposing double standards at the heart of power. Detractors see him differently: as a dangerous anti-American gadfly, indiscriminately revealing information regardless of the consequences.