Julian Assange supporter Jemima Khan turns on fugitive, claims he's 'above the law' Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks speaks to the media and members of the public from a balcony at the Ecuadorian Embassy in December. One of his celebrity backers has turned on him. HIS celebrity backers lost more than $A600,000 when he decided to skip bail. So perhaps it was only a matter of time before one of them started feeling a little less supportive. Jemima Khan has become the first of Julian Assange's supporters to publicly criticise his behaviour - claiming he believed he was "above the law." She said the WikiLeaks founder's "instantaneous rock-star status" made him feel he was "exempt from criticism," even likening him to controversial Scientologist leader L Ron Hubbard. Assange, whose whistleblowing website angered Washington by releasing thousands of US diplomatic cables in 2010, jumped bail and took refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London last year in an attempt to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces rape and sexual assault allegations. Eight months on, Miss Khan, who reportedly had to forfeit more than $35,000 in bail money, gave an extraordinary insight into how Assange has alienated some of his staunchest allies. Jemima Khan arrives at the City of Westminster Magistrates Court, ahead of a hearing for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, in London on December 14, 2010. AFP / Adrian Dennis In a reference to fictional spy Jason Bourne, she said: "I jokingly asked if Assange was the new Jason Bourne, on the run and persecuted by the state. It would be a tragedy if a man who has done so much good were to end up tolerating only disciples and unwavering devotion, more like an Australian L Ron Hubbard. Khan, 39, described how she had supported Assange after he was arrested over the sexual assault claims in late 2010. But the socialite and former wife of cricket star Imran Khan now says that his female accusers have "human rights" too, and that she had gone from "admiration to demoralisation" on the subject of WikiLeaks. "The timing of the rape allegations and the issuing of the Interpol arrest warrant for Assange in November 2010 initially seemed suspicious to many, including me," she said. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has addressed supporters from his London safe haven They came just two days after the release of the first batch of embarrassing state department cables. It may well be that the serious allegations of sexual assault and rape are not substantiated in court, but I have come to the conclusion that these are all matters for Swedish due process and that Assange is undermining both himself and his own transparency agenda - as well as doing the US department of justice a favour - by making his refusal to answer questions in Sweden into a human rights issue. The women in question have human rights, too, and need resolution. Assange's noble cause and his wish to avoid a US court does not trump their right to be heard in a Swedish court. I don't regret putting up bail money for Assange but I did it so that he would be released while awaiting trial, not so that he could avoid answering to the allegations. Writing in the New Statesman, Miss Khan, who is associate editor of the publication, added: "The problem is that WikiLeaks . . . has been guilty of the same obfuscation and misinformation as those it sought to expose, while its supporters are expected to follow, unquestioningly, in blinkered, cultish devotion." Assange was arrested in Britain in December 2010. After losing a protracted legal battle to avoid extradition, he sought refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in June and has been inside the building ever since.