Assange’s backers must pay £93,500

Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle said the nine had to pay £93,500 by November 6.

Mr Assange has been in Ecuador’s London embassy since June as part of his bid to avoid extradition to Sweden.

He fears being sent to the United States if he travels to Sweden, to face interrogation over the whistle-blowing website.

He has been granted political asylum by Ecuador but faces arrest if he leaves the embassy after breaking bail conditions.

Vaughan Smith, a friend who put Assange up at his country mansion for more than a year, addressed Westminster Magistrates’ Court last week on behalf of the nine, who put up £140,000 between them.

He said all those who offered sureties, of varying amounts, are “convinced that they have done and are doing the right thing”.

In his ruling yesterday, the Chief Magistrate said he accepted that the nine had all acted in good faith. “However, they failed in their basic duty, to ensure his surrender.”