The founder¹ of whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been refused bail² by a court in London but vowed³ to fight extradition⁴ to Sweden.

维基泄密创始人朱利安·阿桑杰的保释请求被伦敦一家法庭拒绝，但是他立誓同被引渡到瑞典做斗争。

Julian Assange (left) appeared in court with John Pilger and others offering suretie
Mr Assange denies sexually assaulting two women in Sweden. He was remanded（送回，归还） in custody⁵ pending⁶ a hearing next week.

A judge at City of Westminster Magistrates⁷' Court refused bail because of the risk of the 39-year-old fleeing.

A Wikileaks spokesman said the arrest was an attack on media freedom and pledged to continue publishing.

After the court appearance Mr Assange's lawyer Mark Stephens said he would be applying again for bail.

He claimed the charges were "politically motivated" and said the judge was keen to see the evidence against Mr Assange, an Australian citizen.

Mr Stephens said Wikileaks would continue to publish material and added: "We are on cable 301 and there are 250,000 secret cables."

A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Assange's arrest was "a matter for the police" and there had been no ministerial involvement.

The Pentagon welcomed the arrest, with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates saying on a visit to Afghanistan that it was "good news".

Prosecutors⁸ in Sweden have insisted the extradition request is a matter of criminal law and they "have not been put under any kind of pressure, political or otherwise".

Five people, including journalist John Pilger, film director Ken⁹ Loach and Jemima Khan, the sister of Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith, offered to put up sureties（担保，保证） .

But district judge Howard Riddle¹⁰ refused bail for Mr Assange and he was remanded in custody until 14 December.

Judge Riddle said he believed Mr Assange might flee and he also feared he "may be at risk from unstable¹¹ persons".

Gemma Lindfield, for the Swedish authorities, gave details of the allegations against Mr Assange.

One of the charges is that he had unprotected sex with a woman, identified only as Miss A, when she insisted he use a condom.

Another is that he had unprotected sex with another woman, Miss W, while she was asleep.

Mr Assange, who was accompanied by Australian consular¹²（领事的） officials, initially¹³ refused to say where he lived but eventually gave an address in Australia.

Afterwards Ms Khan explained why she was willing to put up a surety: "I offered my support as I believe that this is about the universal right of freedom of information and our right to be told the truth."

Wikileaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said it would not stop the release of more secret files and told Reuters on Tuesday: "Wikileaks is operational. We are continuing on the same track as laid out before.

"Any development with regards to Julian Assange will not change the plans we have with regards to the releases today and in the coming days."

He said Wikileaks was being operated by a group in London and other secret locations.