Julian Assange, the Australian founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website, appeared at a court hearing Tuesday in London aimed at securing bail pending extradition proceedings, dpa reported.
There were chaotic scenes outside City of Westminster Magistrates' Court as the prison van carrying the 39-year-old rolled up, and Assange was led into the court building away from public view.
Hundreds of photographers and cameramen from the world media besieged the court entrance to take shots of people arriving for the hearing. They included a number of human rights campaigners who have offered cash bail to free Assange.
A group of protestors expressing their support for Assange and his organization were kept behind metal fencing on the opposite side of the road.
They carried placards mocking the justice authorities in Britain and Sweden.
One said "Sweden, puppets of the US", and another proclaimed "Exposing war crimes is not a crime" - an allusion to the WikiLeaks publications of confidential US cables, which is not the subject of the London proceedings.
Assange is wanted in Sweden on sex offence allegations.
Assange bail hearing opens in London
Julian Assange, the Australian founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website, appeared at a court hearing Tuesday in London aimed at securing bail pending extradition proceedings.
