WikiLeaks founder signs $1.7m book deal

The founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange speaks to the media as he leaves a police station in Beccles, England. Picture: Matt Dunham Source: AP

Julian Assange says he has signed deals for his autobiography worth more than $1.7 million.

Assange told Britain's Sunday Times newspaper the money would help him defend himself against allegations of sexual assault made by two women in Sweden.
"I don't want to write this book, but I have to," he said. "I have already spent 200,000 pounds ($307,000) for legal costs and I need to defend myself and to keep WikiLeaks afloat."
The Australian said he would receive the equivalent of $800,000 from Alfred A. Knopf, his US publisher, and a British deal with Canongate was worth about $500,000.
Money from other markets and serialisation was expected to raise the total to $1.7 million.
Assange, on bail in Britain fighting Swedish attempts to extradite him over the sex assault claims, has had problems financing WikiLeaks.