Assange guarantors told to pay £93,500 Nine people, including a Nobel Prize winner, who acted as sureties for Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, must pay £93,500 after Mr Assange breached his bail conditions, a court has decided. The ruling comes after the founder of the whistleblowing website fled to the Ecuadorean embassy in London and claimed asylum to avoid extradition to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations. The nine were appealing against the forfeit of their sureties on the grounds that they were not liable for, or in some cases able to, pay the amounts owing, ranging from £5,000 to £20,000. Other guarantors, including the socialite and charity fundraiser Jemima Khan and the film director Ken Loach, have already lost a total of £200,000. However, in assessing the remainder of the sureties, Judge Howard Riddle, chief magistrate at Westminster Magistrates Court, ruled that in some cases ordering the full forfeit could cause financial hardship. He also said he had to take into account the "integrity" of those involved, who included Phillip Knightley, the former Sunday Times journalist, Lady Caroline Evans, a literary agent, and Sir John Sulston, the biologist who shared the Nobel Prize for his work on the human genome. The group had stood bail for Mr Assange last February. In June, when the latest in a series of applications for his extradition to be halted had failed, he sought asylum in the embassy. Judge Riddle said in his written ruling: "In declining to publicly (or as far as I know privately) urge Mr Assange to surrender himself the [nine remaining guarantors] have acted against self-interest. They have acted on their beliefs and principles throughout. In what is sometimes considered to be a selfish age, that is admirable. But he said that he had also to consider that ancient attributes of the system of guarantors standing as surety to prevent suspects from absconding. This system, in one form or another, has great antiquity. It is immensely valuable. A court concerned that a defendant will fail to surrender will not normally know that defendant personally, nor indeed much about him. When members of the community who do know the defendant say they trust him to surrender and are prepared to stake their own money on that trust, that can have a powerful influence on the decision of the court as to whether or not to grant bail. He said the group had failed in their "basic duty, to ensure [Mr Assange's] surrender." The chief magistrate said: "It would be unfortunate if this valuable method of allowing a defendant to remain at liberty were undermined. Courts would have less confidence in the efficacy of sureties. The nine, who have until November 6 to pay, are: Professor Tricia David, a professor of education, whose original liability of £20,000 was halved to £10,000; Vaughan Smith, founder of the Frontline Club for foreign correspondents, reduced from £20,000 to £12,000; Lady Evans, a personal friend: £20,000 to £15,000; Sir John Sulston, £20,000 to £15,000; Sarah Saunders, friend of Mr Assange, a catering manager, £20,000 to £15,000; Mr Knightley, £20,000 to £15,000; the Marchioness of Worcester, a model, actress and environmental campaigner, £10,000 to £7,500; Joseph Farrell and Sarah Harrison, both employees of WikiLeaks, each reduced from £5,000 to £3,500.