Marchers support Assange ahead of London extradition hearing

Australian Julian Assange, wanted in the US to face spy charges, has attracted a stellar cast of advocates in London.

Hundreds of supporters of Australian Julian Assange marched through London to pressure the UK government to refuse to extradite the WikiLeaks founder to the US to face spying charges.

Famous Britons, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood joined the protest crowd.

An extradition hearing for Assange is due to begin in a London court on Monday.

Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood joins protesters outside Australia House in London. Picture: AFP

Assange supporters gather in London. Picture: AFP

WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson told a rally outside Parliament that the prosecution of Assange represented “a dark force against (those) who want justice, transparency and truth.”

US prosecutors have charged the 48-year-old Australian computer expert with espionage over WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of confidential government documents.

If found guilty, he could be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison.

American singer and songwriter Chrissie Hynde. Picture: AP

American authorities say Assange conspired with US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and release secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Assange argues he acted as a journalist and is therefore entitled to First Amendment protection. He also maintains the documents exposed wrongdoing and protected many people.

Former Pink Floyd bass player Roger Waters maintains the rage. Picture: AP

Civil liberties groups and journalism organisations, including Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders, have urged America to drop the charges, saying they set a chilling precedent for freedom of the press.

More than 40 jurists from the UK, the US, France and other countries published a letter Saturday asking the British government to reject the extradition request.

They accused the US of “extraterritorial overreach” in seeking to prosecute an Australian who was based in the UK.

Greek economist Yannis Varoufakis seems a little reluctant to go the full fist pump at the Assange rally. Picture: AP

Assange is currently incarcerated in London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison, having previously spent seven years inside the Embassy of Ecuador. He holed up in the South American country’s UK diplomatic mission in 2012 to avoid being sent to Sweden to face questioning over rape and sexual assault allegations.

That case has since been dropped.

Assange was evicted from the embassy in April 2019 and arrested by British police for jumping bail seven years earlier.

Julian Assange. Picture: AFP

Julian Assange's father John Shipton speaks at the protest. Picture: AP

Assange’s legal team argues that the case against him is politically motivated.

His lawyers said they would present evidence they claim shows that Assange was offered a pardon if he agreed to say Russia was not involved in leaking Democratic National Committee emails during the 2016 US presidential election campaign.

Hillary Clinton. Picture: Getty

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Emails embarrassing for the Democrats and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign were hacked before being published by WikiLeaks in 2016. Assange’s lawyers say the offer was made in August 2017 by then-Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who claimed to be acting on behalf of President Donald Trump.

Australian political odd couple George Christensen and Andrew Wilkie met Assange in London this week to offer support. Picture: Getty

The White House called the claim “a complete fabrication and a total lie.”

Mr Rohrabacher said in a statement that he told Assange “that if he could provide me information and evidence about who actually gave him the DNC emails, I would then call on President Trump to pardon him. At no time did I offer a deal made by the President, nor did I say I was representing the President.”