Julian Assange has commented on the rumours that the US are likely to mount a case against him and attempt to extradite the campaigner, by saying that it will be "politically impossible" to extradite him to the States, and that the final decision on the matter is likely to rest with Britain's Coalition Government Prime Minister David Cameron.
In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, one of the five WikiLeaks media partners, Assange spoke to the paper at Ellingham Hall, the country mansion where he is currently subject to house arrest. The journalist and editor in chief suggested he believes extradition is unlikely if he can get sufficient backing from the British public.
"It's all a matter of politics. We can presume there will be an attempt to influence UK political opinion, and to influence the perception of our standing as a moral actor," he said.
The activist went on to comment on the case of Bradley Manning, the US Army Private who is has been in solitary confinement for several months, accused of leaking the 'Cablegate' documents to WikiLeaks. Assange said the US government is "trying to strike a plea deal" with the 23 year old.
Now facing the prospect of prison, either in Sweden, folllowing the ongoing rape investigation and warrant or the United States for espionage, Assange commented on the reality of solitary confinement, following his recent experiences in Wandsworth Prison.He said: "Solitary confinement is very difficult. But I know that provided there is some opportunity for correspondence I can withstand it. I'm mentally robust. Of course it would mean the end of my life in the conventional sense". He also added that felt he was likely to be assassinated "Jack-Ruby Style" if imprisoned in the US.
Assange has been unhappy with the UK media's recent treatment of the rape allegations against him, and rounded on the Guardian for the manner in which they published the details of the allegations, in Saturday's newspaper, saying they were "sub-selected", and did not put the issues in context.
The thorny issue of legal costs was also dealt with. The WikiLeaks founder disclosed that legal costs for his defence and that of the organisation were currently running at £500k. He expressed his regret that key credit card companies and payment transaction companies, such as PayPal, Mastercard, Bank Of America, and Visa refused to honour payments made to the organisation, and that this had cost WikiLeaks some 500,000 Euros.
"Legally the UK has the right to not extradite for political crimes. Espionage is the classic case of political crimes. It is at the discretion of the UK government as to whether to apply to that exception" Assange added on the matter of extradition. He expressed his optimism that he would not be sent to the US by the recently installed Liberal-Conservative Coalition Government, lead by David Cameron and Nick Clegg. "There is a new government, which wants to show it hasn't yet been co-opted by the US."
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