WikiLeaks chief Assange refused bail in Britain
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was remanded in custody until 14 December by a London court on Tuesday after saying he would fight his extradition to Sweden on suspicion of rape and molestation
The 39-year-old Australian, whose whistleblowing website has enraged Washington by releasing thousands of secret US diplomatic cables, appeared in court just hours after handing himself in to British police.
He was refused on the grounds that he might try to flee Britain.
The judge said Assange had "comparatively weak community ties in this country" and had the "means and ability to abscond if he wants to."
The former hacker denies the Swedish claims. He says they stem from a dispute over consensual, unprotected sex with two women and that the accusations may be politically motivated.
London's Metropolitan Police said earlier that officers from its extradition unit had arrested Assange on a European arrest warrant "by appointment at a London police station" at 0930 GMT. He is accused of one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape, all alleged to have been committed in August 2010.
Washington has expressed satisfaction at the arrest of Assange.
The arrest of Assange comes as a fresh blow to WikiLeaks, which has been chased around the globe since it started to release a cache of 250,000 US diplomatic memos on 28 November.
The website has hopped from server to server as various countries tried to close it down, even as its supporters have responded by setting up hundreds of "mirror" sites to keep it online.