WASHINGTON (AFP) – Julian Assange's British attorney, Mark Stephens, said Monday a secret US grand jury had been set up in Virginia to work on charges that could be filed against the WikiLeaks founder.
Stephens said in an interview with Al Jazeera, citing unnamed Swedish authorities, that "there has been a secretly impaneled grand jury in Alexandria," Virginia, just outside Washington.
If the report proves true, it could mean an indictment of Assange is possible.
The Australian Assange became the world's most wanted man after he dumped to several media 250,000 US diplomatic cables in late November. So far, 1,300 have been published. He is currently being held in Britain on sex assault claims in Sweden which is seeking his extradition.
But according to Stephens, "we understand that if it comes to Sweden they will defer their interest in him to the Americans. That shows some level of collusion and embarrassment," he stressed.
The 39-year-old Australian will appear in court in London for a second time Tuesday where his lawyers will make a second application for bail. He faces allegations of sexual assault and rape made against him in Sweden.
He was arrested in London on December 7 on an extradition warrant from Sweden, where prosecutors want to quiz him on the sexual assault claims.
He denies the allegations and his lawyers have said they are politically motivated.
"What we have here is nothing more than holding charges," Stephens argued. "The Americans don't really (care) whether he's being held in Sweden or here as long as he's kind of detained so that they can get their hands on him."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101213/ts_alt_afp/usdiplomacywikileaksjusticecourt_20101213231834
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