Celebs march in support of Assange ahead of extradition hearing

A sprinkling of the rich and famous — and almost famous — showed up Saturday in London to support WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange ahead of his extradition hearing next week.

Faces in the crowd of several hundred included Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.

Waving placards declaring “Journalism is not a crime” and “The truth will set you free,” the protesters marched to Parliament Square, where speakers included Assange’s father, John Shipton.

Assange, 48, spent seven years holed up in Ecuador’s London embassy before being dragged out in April. Shipton has said his son’s health suffered during in that time and he may not survive a prosecution.

The US aims to prosecute Assange under the Espionage Act, accusing him of scheming with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack a password for a classified government computer.

WikiLeaks subsequently published thousands of classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Assange faces 18 charges from the US, including conspiracy to hack into government computers.

He says the extradition is politically motivated by those embarrassed by his revelations.

The hearing, scheduled for Monday, will consider only whether the charges are political in nature — not Assange’s guilt or innocence, Sky News reported.

If the court finds the charges are political, his extradition would not be permitted under the UK-US extradition treaty.

On Friday, Assange lawyer Eric Dupond-Moretti told Europe 1 radio that Assange’s legal team would be in contact with French President Emmanuel Macron to make the case for Assange to get asylum in France, Reuters reported. France rejected a previous asylum request in 2015.