ulian Assange is facing prosecution over the publication of classified US documents leaked by a whistleblower

Julian Assange rally at the Justice DepartmentCIA whistleblower John Kiriakou speaks at the Justice Department in support of Julian Assange (Video: Fox News Digital)

Supporters of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange gathered at the U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday to mark the four-year anniversary of the Australian journalist being detained in London over the publication of classified U.S. military documents.

Assange's case was called the "free speech trial of the 21st century" by Marty Goodman of Socialist Action and NYC Free Assange. Goodman emphasized that, despite Assange not being American, he is being "persecuted for free speech and exposing war crimes" committed by the U.S.

"He's a marvelous beacon of integrity and dedication to the truth," he said of Assange at the rally. "And I'm always inspired by Julian Assange."

Assange is facing a legal battle in which he could be extradited to the U.S. in connection with Wikileaks publishing top secret cables detailing war crimes committed by the U.S. government in the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp, Iraq and Afghanistan. The materials, which were all leaked to him, also expose instances of the CIA engaging in torture and rendition. Additionally, last week marked 13 years since Assange published a video of the U.S. military gunning down civilians, including two Reuters journalists, in Iraq. 

JULIAN ASSANGE SUPPORTERS GATHER IN LONDON FOR EXHIBITION OF LARGEST PHYSICAL SHOWING OF CLASSIFIED DOCS

Supporters of Julian Assange hold a sign in support of the Wikileaks founder at a rally at the Justice Department. (Fox News Digital/Landon Mion)

If he is extradited to the U.S., Assange would face 17 charges for receiving, possessing and communicating classified information to the public under the espionage act and one charge alleging a conspiracy to commit computer intrusion. He could be sentenced to as many as 175 years in an American maximum security prison.

Assange has been held at London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison since he was removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy on April 11, 2019, for breaching jail conditions. He had sought asylum at the embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations he raped two women. The investigations into the sexual assault allegations were eventually dropped.

"Why is Julian Assange in there? Because he dared to tell the truth about this lying country," Rev. Annie Chambers said.

The Cablegate documents Assange is facing prosecution over were leaked to WikiLeaks by then-U.S. soldier Chelsea Manning, who in 2013 was convicted of violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses.The Obama administration elected against indicting Assange after Wikileaks published the cables in 2010 because it would have had to do the same to journalists from major news outlets who engaged in similar actions.