People protest the ongoing detention of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange ahead of a hearing session at a UK court on his extradition to the United States.
The 48-year-old Australian journalist faces charges under the US Espionage Act for the 2010 release by his whistleblowing website of a trove of files detailing the realities of US military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Assange fought extradition to the US for seven years as he remained confined in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London before being removed from the diplomatic mission by the UK police last April.
Assange and his supporters claim the prosecution is politically motivated, and the case has alarmed free speech advocates.
Britain began hearing Washington's extradition request for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, in a test case of media freedoms in the digital age and the limits of US justice.
Free speech and media freedom campaigners have also decried the US charges against Assange.
