Assange signed 1.1 m pounds in book deals
UK : WikiLeaks Chief Julian Assange said in an interview
published Sunday he had signed deals for his autobiography worth more
than one million pounds (1.2 million euros, 1.5 million dollars).
Assange told Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper that the money would
help him defend himself against allegations of sexual assault made by
two women in Sweden. “I don’t want to write this book, but I have to,”
he said. “I have already spent 200,000 pounds for legal costs and I need
to defend myself and to keep WikiLeaks afloat.” The Australian said he
would receive 800,000 dollars (600,000 euros) from Alfred A. Knopf, his
American publisher, and a British deal with Canongate is worth 325,000
pounds (380,000 euros, 500,000 dollars).
Money from other markets and serialisation is expected to raise the
total to 1.1 million pounds, he said. The latest project of Assange’s
whistleblower website is the gradual release of tens of thousands of US
diplomatic cables. Since this latest project began Assange, who is on
bail in Britain fighting a bid by Sweden to extradite him over the sex
assault claims, has faced problems financing WikiLeaks.
Credit card companies Visa and MasterCard and the Internet payment
firm PayPal have blocked donations to WikiLeaks, prompting Assange to
label them “instruments of US foreign policy.”
The Bank of America, the largest US bank, has also halted all
transactions to WikiLeaks. Washington has been infuriated by WikiLeaks
as the site slowly releases the cache of around 250,000 secret US State
Department cables. The US is believed to be considering how to indict
Assange over the the huge leak.
Assange has been staying at a friend’s country mansion in eastern
England since his release from jail on December 16 on strict bail
conditions that include reporting to police daily and wearing an
electronic tag. A court in London is due to hold a full hearing on the
Swedish extradition request starting February 7.
London, Sunday, AFP |