Mr Assange has been accused of sexually assaulting two women in Sweden which he denies.
Because of his nomadic type existence Mr Assange was refused bail - the judge considered him to be a "no show" risk! Judge Riddle said he feared Mr Assange "may be at risk from unstable persons".
The timing of this accusation is most fortuitous one would think as Wikileaks has been "leaking" all sorts during the past few days and it appears that there may be more to this than meets the eye. A Wikileaks spokesman said the arrest was an attack on media freedom and pledged to continue publishing.
Mr Assange's lawyer Mark Stephens claimed the charges were "politically motivated" and he said the judge was keen to see the evidence against Mr Assange, an Australian citizen.
Mr Stephens also said Wikileaks would continue to publish material and added: "We are on cable 301 and there are 250,000 secret cables."
Downing Street denies any involvement in the arrest.
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.
Kristinn Hrafnsson a Wikileaks spokesperson said "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."
US State Department spokesman said the US would probably seek their own extradition order for Mr Assange but would have to wait for the criminal investigation to be resolved first!
Mr Assange's supporters have written an open letter to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, asking her to protect him.
Mr Assange's supporters have written an open letter to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, asking her to protect him.
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