Bulgaria spy row: Boiko Borisov seeks diplomat sackings

Bulgaria spy row: Boiko Borisov seeks diplomat sackings: "Bulgarian PM Boiko Borisov has called for top diplomats revealed to be former communist secret service agents to be fired.
Mr Borisov said he would ask for the 45 diplomats, most of them ambassadors, to be replaced.
A commission on Tuesday said half of Bulgaria's envoys to the EU had been involved with the secret service.
President Georgi Purvanov rejected Mr Borisov's demand, Bulgarian media report.
The Secret Files Commission said the ambassadors to Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Greece and Portugal had been agents of the notorious Darzhavna Sigurnost secret service.
The country's envoys to Tokyo and Moscow are also among the names mentioned in the report.
'Imagine these agents in Western European countries,' Mr Borisov said on Wednesday.
'They once worked against them as ideological enemies and now they are representing our government there,' he added."

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WikiLeaks' Julian Assange asked judge to keep his bail address secret | Mail Online

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange asked judge to keep his bail address secret Mail Online: "WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange tried to hide his bail address from the public in an astonishing move for the man responsible for leaking thousands of diplomatic secrets.Assange's lawyers argued that the location - a 10-bedroom stately home - should not be disclosed on grounds of privacy during yesterday's hearing at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court.
But the move was dismissed by District Judge Howard Riddle, who ruled not to reveal the address would conflict with Assange's commitment to open justice.
The judge insisted the address - Captain Vaughan Smith's Ellingham Hall on the Norfolk/Suffolk border - was read out in open court as usual.It came before Assange, 39, was granted £240,000 bail, including £200,000 in cash and two sureties of £20,000 - but then had his release blocked when the Swedish authorities lodged a challenge"

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Twitter allowed during bail hearing | Law | The Guardian

Twitter allowed during bail hearing Law The Guardian: "judge hearing Julian Assange's application broke new ground today by letting reporters use Twitter and other electronic means to update the outside world on developments in court.
Usually courts in England and Wales frown upon journalists using electronic devices in hearings. But senior district judge Howard Riddle decided to relax the rules, officials at City of Westminster magistrates court confirmed, just before the hearing began. Some journalists tweeted, others texted and emailed developments.
Without permission, such communications could amount to contempt of court. For instance, the use of phones is banned, though some reporters have developed a tactic of concealing a phone under a notebook while texting developments in court back to their newsrooms.
The rules governing courts in England and Wales are very rigid, and vary from court to court. Visual sketches of court proceedings require the artist to leave the room, and rely on their memory, before they can put pen to paper.
Media interest in today's proceedings was far in excess of what court officials were expecting. They not only allowed people to stand, but two reporters were allowed to sit in the witness box, though they were asked to move when people gave evidence in support of Assange."

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Julian Assange remains in jail as Sweden appeals against bail decision | Media | The Guardian

Julian Assange remains in jail as Sweden appeals against bail decision Media The Guardian: "Sweden tonight decided to fight a British judge's decision to grant bail to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has spent more than a week in prison over sexual assault allegations involving two Swedish women.
A dramatic day in and around City of Westminster magistrates court saw Assange win bail, but then be forced to return to what his lawyer Mark Stephens described as 'Dickensian conditions' at Wandsworth prison while the international legal battle played out.
Sweden has decided to contest the granting of bail to Assange, who is being held pending an extradition hearing, on the grounds that no conditions imposed by a judge could guarantee that he would not flee, a legal source told the Guardian.
The appeal will be heard by the high court this week. If he wins, Assange will still have to raise £200,000 in security to meet his bail conditions before being freed. Howard Riddle, the same senior district judge who last week ordered Assange be held on remand, granted bail with strict conditions, including a curfew and the wearing of a tag."

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