Supporters protest as Assange refuses US extradition

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's supporters protested outside a London court after a hearing over whether Assange should be extradited to the United States.

London: Supporters of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange blocked traffic outside a London court on Thursday after a hearing over whether he should be extradited to the United States.

Assange appeared on a video link from Belmarsh Prison where he is serving a 50-week sentence for skipping bail.

He told the court that he would fight extradition to the US where he is accused of conspiring with former US soldier Chelsea Manning to hack a Pentagon computer.

After the hearing, dozens of his supporters spilled out onto a major highway that runs past the court, stopping traffic as they held a protest calling on the British government not to extradite him.

Assange was arrested last month after spending seven years inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London where he had claimed asylum.