WikiLeaks founder to swap cell for Frontline club owner’s mansion

LONDON - WikiLeaks boss Julian Assange is gearing up to swap his prison cell for a room in a lavish mansion owned by the founder of London’s Frontline Club, Vaughan Smith.

According to his bail hearing, with 600 acres of land and a 10-bedroom house to roam, it would not so much be a case of house arrest as ‘mansion arrest’ if he is given the go-ahead to stay at Ellingham Hall, reports the Telegraph.

Spanning the border between Norfolk and Suffolk near Bungay, the estate sits on the edge of the Broads and is often hired out as a wedding venue, offering romantic lakeside ceremonies.

Smith set up the club in London in 2003 to offer foreign correspondents and other journalists what he calls a “campfire to sit around and tell stories”.ssange and Smith became friends after the whistle blower website founder chose the club for a press conference to launch his first batch of US military leaks earlier this year.

Assange is in custody awaiting an appeal hearing into a district judge’s decision to grant bail and while his supporters arrange a �200,000 security in cash.

He is fighting against his extradition to Sweden following sexual assault allegations. (ANI)