LONDON — A lawyer for Julian Assange said on Wednesday that the WikiLeaks(维基泄密) founder's backers(支持者) had raised(募集) around half of the 200,000 pounds ($317,400) cash he needs to secure bail(保释) in the Swedish sex crimes case against him.
Lawyer Mark Stephens said members of the public had asked to contribute to the fund to release the Australian, who has outraged(激怒) U.S. authorities by orchestrating(策划) the release(释放，发布) of thousands of secret diplomatic(外交的) cables(电报).
Assange was in a London jail after Swedish authorities appealed against a judge's decision to free him on bail. Assange denies any wrong-doing.
Officials said an appeal(上诉) against a judge's decision to grant him bail will be heard(听取，审理) on Thursday at the High Court in London.
"We have to come up with 200,000 pounds in pound notes(英镑纸币) and that is difficult to come by," Stephens told BBC News.
"We've got about half of that right now but of course people will understand that even wealthy people don't keep that kind of money knocking around(四处走动，随意放)," he added.
Assange is fighting attempts to extradite(引渡) him to Sweden for questioning over allegations(辩词) of sexual misconduct made by two female WikiLeaks volunteers, which he denies.
Prominent public figures including U.S. filmmaker Michael Moore, Australian journalist John Pilger and British author Hanif Kureishi have pledged their support for Assange.
"I'm getting offers from the general public who are coming in and saying, 'we really would like to contribute to this, Julian Assange shouldn't be in jail'," Stephens added.