The fight for free speech has only just begun, a Sydney rally in support of whistleblower website WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange has been told.
The protest at Town Hall, in the city centre, attracted about 30 supporters and a heavy police presence.
WikiLeaks Support Coalition spokesman Patrick Langosch said a leading US politician's labelling of Mr Assange as a hi-tech terrorist was appalling.
He later told the Town Hall rally the fight for free speech "has only just begun". "(US Vice President) Joe Biden's comments that Julian Assange is akin to a 'hi-tech terrorist' are absolutely appalling," he said ahead of the protest.
"It indicates clearly that the United States are still determined to hunt down Assange and silence WikiLeaks." Kiraz Janicke, also from the Wikileaks Support Coalition, said banks had tried to silence the whistleblower website by refusing to handle donations to WikiLeaks.
"It is hardly a surprise to see the Bank of America join Visa, Mastercard, Paypal and the US government in trying to silence Wikileaks," she said in a statement.
"The bankers are no doubt just as terrified of WikiLeaks revealing their infamous greed and total lack of concern for common people as the US and Australian governments have been terrified of their war crimes and lies in the middle-east being exposed."
Mr Assange, a 39-year-old Australian, is facing allegations that he sexually assaulted two women in Stockholm but has vowed to continue releasing secret US documents through his website.
The High Court in London rejected an attempt by British lawyers acting for Sweden to keep him in jail while he fights the extradition attempt, a process that could take months.
As part of his bail conditions, he must live at a friend's Georgian mansion near the rural town of Bungay in Suffolk, eastern England. He has also been electronically tagged, is subject to a curfew and must report to police daily. Hundreds of WikiLeaks supporters rallied in central Sydney last week, resulting in four arrests.
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