LONDON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he is being forced into penning an autobiography to keep his organization from going under.
New York publishing house Alfred A. Knopf confirmed Monday that it had struck a deal with the 39- year-old Australian to bring out his autobiography, whose publication date has yet to be determined.
Assange, speaking to The Sunday Times, said the deal would bring in more than $1 million, with $800,000 from Knopf and another $500,000 from U.K. publisher Canongate. He said he agreed to it only because he was under financial pressure.
“I don’t want to write this book, but I have to,” he said. “I have already spent 200,000 pounds for legal costs, and I need to defend myself and to keep WikiLeaks afloat.”
Assange shot to worldwide prominence on the back of a series of spectacular leaks of classified U.S. material. But with the international attention came international legal problems. The U.K.-bound activist is fighting extradition to Sweden, where he faces sex-crimes allegations.
A Knopf spokesman said Assange was due to deliver his manuscript sometime in 2011. The Associated Press
