Hundreds of people have staged a rally in support of Australian whistle-blower Julian Assange in the British capital of London, calling for his release. The demonstrators marched through the city on Saturday, chanting pro-Assange slogans and waving placards that read “Journalism is not a crime.” The rally stretched from Australia House — the Australian diplomatic mission in London — to Parliament Square, where the crowds were addressed by Assange’s father, John Shipton.

Expressing concern over the condition of his son in Belmarsh prison in southeast London, Shipton said Assange’s long confinement had affected his health and that he feared that sending the 48-year-old to the United States — where he is wanted — would be akin to a death sentence.

Julian Assange’s father, John Shipton, joins protesters outside Australia House before taking part in a march in support of the Wikileaks founder, in London, the United Kingdom, on February 22, 2020.

(Photo by AFP) The demonstration comes as a court in London is set to begin hearings on Monday to decide whether the Australian whistle-blower should be extradited to the US Assange was arrested in London in April last year after he was expelled from the Ecuadorian Embassy — where he had taken refuge for seven years — due to pressure from Washington. The activist is still fighting the US bid to have him extradited from Britain on espionage charges related to his work.

The 48-year-old Australian citizen is currently serving a 50-week sentence in the United Kingdom for skipping bail.

Assange used WikiLeaks to publish classified documents online, including military and diplomatic files in 2010 about US bombing campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq that proved highly embarrassing to the US government.

The whistle-blower faces a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison in the US if convicted of all of the charges brought against him there.

The court hearings will last for one week and will then pause until April 20, when they are expected to restart for a further three weeks