Friends of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange have called the Australian's ongoing prison detention outrageous after holding a bike protest in his name.
Former United Kingdom ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray said campaigners "will never stop fighting" for his freedom outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Saturday.
He was joined by about 40 bike riders who had earlier set off from Belmarsh Prison before passing through several major London landmarks, including the Cutty Sark and Tower of London.
The riders presented Murray with the Walkley Award, an Australian award won by Assange for excellence in journalism.
Signs and yellow ribbons calling for release were put up outside the courts.
Assange has been held in the prison for more than four years as he fights efforts by the United States government to extradite him.
He fears spending the rest of his life in prison if he is sent to the US.
One man came dressed to the protest as the grim reaper, with a sign that read "RIP British Justice, 1215-2021".
"The United States claim the ability to take any citizen of any country from any country around the world for the breaking their laws - that is simply outrageous," Murray said.
He added that Australia was "absolutely behind Julian and the desire to bring their citizen home".
Protesters say they hope to remind the judges Assange is a multiple award-winning journalist and that attempts to prosecute him will endanger the freedom of the press.
Assange is awaiting news from the High Court about when it will hear his final appeal in the UK against being extradited to the US.
The US government is attempting to use its 1917 Espionage Act for the first time against a journalist.
Members of a cross-party delegation of Australian MPs in the US this week to seek support for Assange's release said they had a productive discussion with the Justice Department.
Australian Associated Press
