On the eve of the court hearing regarding the U.S. request for his extradition, Julian Assange supporters gathered at Bloomsbury Baptist Church in central London for a powerhouse lineup of speakers hosted by George Galloway.

This latest stop on the ‘Imperialism on Trial’ event tour included the following speakers:

• Craig Murray
• Annie Machon
• Emmy Butlin
• Alexander Mercouris
• Peter Ford
• Neil Clark
• Sheila Coombs
• Patrick Henningsen

21WIRE's Patrick Henningsen presents his case:

"If you're a journalist or your publisher. If you're a news consumer. This is the defining issue of this generation. This affects everybody. This doesn't just affect the press, the papers, the titles that you love, the ones that I used to look forward to reading every weekend when I had my stack. Now, it's every journalist, every publication, every blogger, everybody who uses social media.

I make this point to people. There's people doing forensic document analysis on Twitter. They're just ordinary enthusiasts, citizens, they're publishing. They're journalists. The amount of journalists on the planet has mushroomed. [Applause]

So, this issue affects everybody. This is fundamental. Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning are holding the line on one of the most important pillars of a post-enlightenment democratic society. Understand that's what's happening. When governments take power or take rights away from citizens, they don't give them back very easily."

This event went live on Ruptly, watch it here: https://21w.co/iot-live-london

Listen to the full event audio here: https://soundcloud.com/user-877437452/imperialism-on-trial-free-julian-assange-by-gregory-sharkey

Just a few hours ago, 21WIRE's Patrick Henningsen went LIVE outside Westminster Magistrates Court in London, where Julian Assange appeared via video link with attorneys present in the courtroom for the first hearing regarding the U.S. request for his extradition. Hundreds of Assange supporters turned up, blocking traffic on main road and causing tailback all the way to Kings Cross...

Watch here: https://21w.co/tweet-ja-london-xtra-1

For more Julian Assange news, please visit 21stCenturyWire.com

Cover photo by Patrick Henningsen @21WIRE