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Hundreds of Julian Assange supporters have gathered in London to protest against his extradition case and demand he be released.

A large crowd of protesters gathered outside Australia House on Saturday afternoon, holding signs such as "Don't extradite Assange - journalism is not a crime".

Former Greek Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, editor in chief of WikiLeaks Kristinn Hrafnsonn and Pink Floyd star Roger Waters were among the high-profile names at the protest.

The protesters gathered in the Strand before marching to Parliament Square in support of the Wikileaks founder, whose father John Shipton was at the protest.

Assange, 48, is being held in Belmarsh Prison in south east London as he awaits the start of a full extradition hearing on Monday.

Assange's father gave a speech to crowds in Parliament Square on Saturday afternoon.

He said: “I look over the crowd and see many familiar faces in the crowd and the press supporting Julian and I thank you.

“I bring to you his affection, his nobility of purpose and his strength of character after nine years. I don’t really understand why Julian is in jail here.”

He described the imprisonment of the Wikileaks founder as “arbitrary detention.”

Assange is wanted in the US on 18 charges over the publication of US cables a decade ago. If found guilty he could face a 175-year prison sentence.

Ahead of the protests, 76-year-old singer-songwriter Waters accused “the powers that be” of trying to “kill” Assange ahead of his extradition hearing

Speaking on Friday, Waters dismissed the charges against Assange as “nonsense” and claimed he faced a “kangaroo court”.

“He has committed no crime, he published something, he’s a journalist, he did what journalists are supposed to do. There was no threat to national security,” Waters said.

“It looks as if the powers that be have every intention of submitting to the demands of the United States government to have him extradited to the US so they can lock him up until he is dead.”

Assange has been held on remand in Belmarsh since last September after serving a 50-week jail sentence for breaching bail conditions while staying in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

He entered the building in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex offence allegations, which he has always denied and were subsequently dropped.

Waters suggested Assange should not be held for a “minor bail infringement”.