PROTESTERS will gather outside Parliament today to demand the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from Belmarsh prison.

Campaigners and supporters will march through central London as Mr Assange faces extradition to the United States, where he would likely be imprisoned for the rest of his life for revealing the country’s war crimes.

Among the speakers at the Parliament Square event will be his wife, Stella Assange, alongside a sculpture called Anything To Say, which features life-sized bronze figures of whistleblowers Edward Snowden, Mr Assange and Chelsea Manning, each standing on their own individual chair.

Adjacent to them is an empty chair, representing the general population, encouraging everyone to “stand up instead of sit like the others.”

The sculpture has been displayed in Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Belgium, Serbia and Australia.

Artist Davide Dormino, who designed the statue, said he feels “a duty to defend freedom of speech and the right to know.

“That is why I have created an empty chair, which allows us to stand taller and raise ourselves.

“It changes our perspective and prompts us to look beyond what we are shown and what is hidden.”