UK court orders extradition of Assange to Sweden - IBNLive.com

London: Julian Assange, the Australian who became a global celebrity when he published stolen classified US government data on the website he founded, is now set to lose even more sleep than what he quoted in 'The Unauthorised Autobiography' that was out earlier this year.

"I was beginning to get the hacker's disease: no sleep, bottomless curiosity, single-mindedness, and an obsession with precision," Assange quoted in the autobiography.

Assange is in troble after a London court on Wednesday directed that he be extradited to Sweden to face questioning in cases of rape and sexual misconduct, the allegations that Assange denies.

"I may be a chauvinist pig of some sort but I am no rapist, and only a distorted version of sexual politics could attempt to turn me into one," said Assange in the autobiography.

For his die-hard supporters, Assange is the ultimate hero who's being victimised for daring to expose the world's lone super power, the US.

Assange first hit the headlines when Wikileaks published in April 2010 a picture of a US helicopter attack in Baghdad in 2007 that killed a dozen people, including two journalists.

Two months later, he had released 91,000 secret US documents about the war in Afghanistan.

By November, a Swedish court had moved to order his detention over a probe into charges of rape.

Assange's cult following only grew when within days of the Swedish court arrest order, he released thousands of US diplomatic cables.

But as governments battled the Wiki storm, the practitioner of cyber guerrilla warfare too found himself more and more embattled.

In December, he was arrested by British police and was out on bail soon but was placed virtually under house arrest.

His website was squeezed of funds, and by October, virtually squeezed dry.

In London, on Wednesday, Assange made a brief statement. Leaving his supporters around the world hopeful of another fight back, he said, "No doubt there will be many attempts to spin these proceedings but they are technical".

"Wikileaks will continue, I have no doubt about it, but they face financial crisis. I learnt that the largest measure of moral support comes from India. Don't underestimate capability of Wikileaks, it's not a one man show," said The Hindu Editor-in-Chief N Ram.

Wikileaks has filed a case in European Union (EU), appealing against the funds blockade, and Assange will appeal against his deportation to Sweden, if the High Court allows him to.

(Follow IBNLive.com on Facebook, on Twitter, on YouTube, and on Google+ for updates that you can share with your friends.)