After nine days in jail, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was freed on bail Thursday after an appeal by Swedish authorities failed.

Assange was granted bail Tuesday but was remanded in custody pending the outcome of the appeal. Now he can remain free while he fights extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on sex-crime allegations.

Bail for Assange was set at about $315,000. He will have to surrender his passport and wear an electronic tracking device. He will also have to remain at a Suffolk mansion and check in with a local police station nightly.

Assange's attorney, Mark Stephens, told reporters before the hearing that money for Assange's bail was ready.

"We believe that we will have the money today. It appears to be in the banking system," Stephens said. "We certainly have pledges from the people who stood behind him on previous occasions."

Assange's next hearing, on the extradition issue, will be January 11.

Assange was incarcerated in London on the strength of an arrest warrant issued from Sweden as a result of allegations made by two women there. The allegations include one count of unlawful coercion, two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape.

Assange is wanted for questioning, but has not been charged with a crime.

The first complainant, identified by Swedish authorities as "Miss A," alleged that she was a victim of "unlawful coercion" on August 14 in Stockholm. In that instance, Assange allegedly used his body weight to hold her down so that he could have sex with her.

In the second charge involving sexual molestation, Miss A alleges that Assange had sex with her without wearing a condom, although she had made it her "express wish" that he use one.

The third charge claims that Assange "deliberately molested" Miss A on August 18 "in a way designed to violate her sexual integrity."

The fourth charge involves a second complainant, identified as "Miss W," who spent the night with Assange on August 17 and accused him of having sex with her while she slept, without her consent and without wearing a condom.

During his bail hearing Tuesday, Assange's defense attorney Geoffrey Robertson told the court that he doubted that the allegations against his client would be considered rape under English law.

Meanwhile, The New York Times is reporting that U.S. prosecutors are looking for evidence that would help them bring conspiracy charges against Assange. Prosecutors are looking for anything that would suggest Assange encouraged or helped Manning leak classified information by giving him instructions on how to download files or even requesting Manning obtain certain kinds of documents to send to WikiLeaks.

As Threat Level reported earlier this week, a conspiracy charge for helping steal classified documents would help prosecutors avoid First Amendment issues that would arise if they tried to prosecute Assange under the Espionage Act.

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