PINK FLOYD legend Roger Waters has accused “the powers that be” of “trying to kill” Julian Assange ahead of the start of the WikiLeaks founder’s extradition hearing on Monday.

He said that the Australian journalist faces being “locked up until he is dead” if he is sent to the US to face “nonsense” charges in a “kangaroo court” over the leak of classified documents.

Mr Waters is due to perform at a central London rally tomorrow to support demands for his release. Supporters will gather outside the Australian High Commission before marching to Parliament Square.

Mr Assange, who is being held in Belmarsh prison in south-east London, could be sentenced to 175 years in prison if found guilty of 18 charges in the US.

Mr Assange has been held on remand since last September after serving a 50-week jail sentence for breaching his bail conditions while he was 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. He was dragged out of the embassy in April.