Around 1,000 people formed a human chain around the UK Parliament in London on Saturday demanding the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
“Free Assange, no extradition to the US” and “press is not a crime” were some of the slogans displayed on the posters of the protesters.
Under blue skies, a human chain stretches across Westminster Bridge, from the front of Parliament, to the gardens of Victoria Tower.
Julian Assange, who has been held in Belmarsh prison outside London since 2019, has appealed against the British government’s decision to extradite him to the United States.
The 51-year-old Australian is under investigation in the United States for the release of 700,000 classified documents by WikiLeaks in 2010, mainly on the operations of the US armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He could face decades in prison in the United States if found guilty of espionage under a law that prohibits the disclosure of classified information.
Assange was arrested by police in 2019 as a refugee at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
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© Agence France-Presse
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