Hundreds of people have supported WikiLeakers founder Julian Assange with a protest march in London. Among them were a number of prominent figures, such as rock singer Roger Waters and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. Assange’s father also walked from the Australian embassy to Parliament Square.
The WikiLeaks founder may be extradited to the United States because the country wants to prosecute him for revealing secret information about America’s military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan. This also brought to light war crimes committed by American soldiers.
Monday’s are the first hearings in the whistleblower trial, but Assange does not want to go to the US. In May he said he did not want to “surrender to America”. He also said he was a journalist and “protected many people with it”. If Assange is found guilty of all charges, he can be sentenced to 175 years in jail.
Call of lawyers
The WikiLeaks founder challenges British rendition to the US. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty are urging the US to withdraw the charges against the Australian. About 40 lawyers wrote to the British government this weekend. They call on the British not to extradite Assange.
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