Chaotic scenes outside Assange hearing

The court holding WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was besieged by protesters and media today.

Hundreds of people packed the busy road outside City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

Photographers and cameramen from around the world made the small, staired entrance almost impassable.

Dozens of police officers corralled a vocal and diverse protest behind metal fencing on the other side of the road.

A squad of officers helped celebrity Jemima Khan as she walked into court amid chaotic scenes to again offer a cash surety.

Veteran journalist and campaigner John Pilger, who has also put up cash bail, pushed his way through the scrum.

Among those leading the protest were gay rights activist Peter Tatchell and Lindsey German of the Stop the War campaign group.

Some demonstrators wore masks representing anarchic comic book hero V, from 'V for Vendetta', and others used scarves to conceal their identity.

Many carried placards mocking the British and Swedish authorities as well as black and white images of Assange.

One read: “Sweden, puppets of the US”, another said “There is something rotten in the state of Sweden” and many said “Exposing war crimes is not a crime”.

Others gave out leaflets campaigning for an end to the “unfair” European Arrest Warrant and outlining support for the free flow of information.

There was an angry argument as two protesters using separate loudhailers argued over who was in charge and called for support.

A minor scuffle broke out as a man wearing a hat in Swedish national colours was pushed from the road by police.