Dozens of activists marched from the British Consulate to its American counterpart, via the Department of Foreign Affairs, in Sydney on Friday to mark World Press Freedom Day and demand the release of WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange from the London prison where he is being held.
A number of speakers addressed the crowds at various points along the march, including Assange’s father John Shipton, Australian news anchor Mary Kostakidis and Assange’s legal adviser Greg Barns.
“Ecuador, in order to get an IMF loan, sold Australian citizen Julian Assange. This is an outrage,” Shipton said before going on to call former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the wider US government ‘fiends.’
For his part, Barns said Assange would not be granted a fair trial in America despite ‘upholding what is a fundamental value in Australia.’
Many of the protesters carried banners and photographs of Assange and covered their mouths with face masks emblazoned with the US flag.
The rally comes after the Australian was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison by a court in London for violating bail conditions.