WikiLeaks hackers give Britain 48 hours to let Julian Assange go free

Hackers today declared a 48-hour truce in their WikiLeaks "cyber war" as the website's founder, Julian Assange, waits to see whether he will be freed from a British jail.

Mr Assange remained in solitary confinement in Wandsworth prison after the Swedish authorities appealed against a decision to grant him bail at City of Westminster magistrates' court — but the threat to British government websites appears to have subsided.

Anonymous, the group behind attacks on several sites it perceives as enemies of WikiLeaks, announced the truce in a YouTube video, complete with a dramatic soundtrack of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.

"We respect the law, we hope that justice will respect free speech. We will wait 48 hours," it said. However, it then warned: "We do not forget, we do not forgive."

If the appeal is rejected at a High Court hearing expected tomorrow, Assange's supporters, who include filmmaker Michael Moore and Jemima Khan, will have to post a £200,000 deposit to free him. Assange's friend, Vaughan Smith, the founder of the Frontline Club in Paddington, has told the court he will put him up at a house on his family's Ellingham Hall estate on the Norfolk-Suffolk borders.

Mr Assange, 39, would have to stay in the property, observing curfews from 10pm to 2am and from 10am to 2pm — in what his lawyers jokingly referred to as "mansion arrest".

Speaking to the Standard, Mr Smith, a journalist and former Army captain, said the offer to let Mr Assange stay was a "joint decision" with his wife. He said: "There are members of my family who might be surprised by my decision but at the same time my wife has been very supportive. People have made death threats to this person. I have two small children who live in the house."

But he added: "You don't make a better world by not taking a few risks and I feel that I must do so."

Mr Assange is wanted in Sweden over claims he sexually assaulted two women during a visit to Stockholm in August. His supporters say the criminal investigation and extradition request are unfair and politically motivated.

The Australian, whose website has published confidential US cables, was bailed by a judge yesterday after supporters agreed to post a £200,000 cash deposit. The ruling was overridden two hours later when Swedish prosecutors said they would appeal.