6.01pm: Julian Assange walks out of the High Court with a hand raised.

“It’s great to smell the fresh air of London again.”

He thanks all the people around the world who have had faith in him and his lawyers, sureties “in the face of great difficulty and aversion”, also members of the press “who were not all taken in” and finally the British justice system.

“If justice is not always the outcome, at least it is not dead yet.”

5.54pm:
Sky is saying Assange will be coming out of the high court in five minutes time.

5.48pm:

Julian Assange has just been released.

5.45pm:
An update from Vikram Dodd, which suggests there might be a new obstacle to Assange being released tonight:

A source with knowledge of events said a fresh issue may stop Assange’s freedom. He must be at his bail address in Ellingham Hall, in Norfolk, by 10pm this evening. By a certain point it will become clear that he can not make the drive from London in time.
At this stage it appears either not all the sureties or not all of the £200,000 security money are in place.

1.17pm: Luke Harding said: “Julian Assange has just been granted conditional bail. Mr Justice Ouseley is tweaking conditions at the moment. He did raise some concern about Assange’s supporters suggesting that there was a possibility that this was a gesture of support rather than anything more meaningful. But in the end he did endorse the decision of Westminster magistrates court. I would expect him to be freed – whether that will take hours or a little long, he will be out.”

11.47am: Esther Addley managed to pop out of the court to report on the judge’s comments about Twitter.

“This is not something I normally deal with,” Mr Justice Ouseley said. “District judge Riddle [on Tuesday] did permit the use of tweets. That’s to say short text messages, made by use of a Blackberry or a laptop.”

He said tweets from the court would represent a distraction.

“I recognise the calls for debate … The issue involving Twitter may involve the potential for disruption to the atmosphere of the court, which one might call its dignity.”

Esther added that Assange looks “frazzled”. He is wearing a white shirt with no tie and a dark shirt. He is flanked in the dock by two guards and behind ornate bars, she said.

11.34am: Boo. As expected the judge has banned Twitter reporting from the court.

10.53am: Stephens says the Assange team now has the necessary £200,000 in cash to meet the bail conditions, according a tweet from ABC news.

The veteran journalist John Pilger, one of Assange’s supporters offering surety, has turned up at court. He said Assange should walk free today.

10.37am: Stephens now insists that Sweden IS leading the appeal.

“We are coming here today at the request of the Swedish government. We are aware that the Swedes asked for an appeal, we are also aware that the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer has also said that all that the CPS is doing is the bidding of the Swedish government.”

To repeat the Swedish authorities are still insisting that Britain is leading the appeal. So it looks like we are in for another day of confusion and contradictory statement.

10.09am: Julian’s mum, Christine, wrote notes on her arm when visiting her son in Wandsworth prison, she told Seven News. The WikiLeaks founder described his ‘quiet anger’ at his plight, this Guardian video reports.

9.58am: Mark Stephens says he is hopeful of having the money needed for security today.

“It appears to be in the banking system,” Stephens told reporters outside the court. That means that if the high court uphold’s the decision grant Assange bail, he may walk free today. Yesterday Stephens said half of the £200,000 needed for bail, had been raised in cash. Lets hope they have good security guards.

9.51am: This time the photographers managed to snap a picture of Assange entering the court.

9.43am: Today’s hearing is expected to last two hours and will take place in court 4 at the Royal Courts of Justice.