Four people have been arrested, one for allegedly punching a police officer, during a march by WikiLeaks supporters through Sydney's city centre.
After being refused permission to march on George Street, hundreds of protesters were escorted by police along the footpath from Town Hall to Martin Place last night.
Police say three were arrested for deliberately blocking traffic and were later issued with penalty notices, and a 35-year-old Kingsford man was charged with assaulting police.
"It was a message to Julia Gillard that Julian Assange is not a criminal," activist Pip Hinman told AAP.
Ms Hinman said about 600 protesters staged a peaceful rally and did not disrupt peak-hour traffic as it moved along George Street's footpath and then into Martin Place to the US Consulate.
"The police I saw were grabbing people from the footpath, they were pulling people onto the street, at the same time they let out their dogs from their vans and that's where I saw a few people getting dragged away."
The Support WikiLeaks Coalition (SWC) said the right to protest was a basic human right.
"We're now having to defend our own freedom of speech to defend the freedom of speech of WikiLeaks," said SWC spokesman Patrick Langosch.
"We want to march to the US Embassy to show we oppose their attempts to silence WikiLeaks... We can only conclude that the draconian actions of the NSW Police are political."
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was granted bail by a British judge overnight, but will remain locked up while Swedish authorities seeking his extradition to face sexual assault claims appeal the ruling.
Share
