Julian Assange supporters outnumber his critics. Who are they?

The fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be decided on January 4, when the Old Bailey court will pronounce the judgement on whether he will be extradited to the United States from the United Kingdom.

The US has charged him with hacking government computers and espionage after he obtained and published hundreds of thousands of classified documents between 2010 and 2011, including the Afghanistan and Iraq war logs. The charges could lead to an unprecedented 175 years in jail for the Australian-born publisher.

He was arrested from the Ecuador embassy in London, in February 2019, where he had been given asylum seven years earlier.

Recently, calls to pardon him have grown louder, including from unlikely characters such as former US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, a Republican.

In September, 160 former and current world leaders and diplomats signed a letter demanding the UK government prevent his extradition.

Rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have called for his release.

Increasingly, prominent media outlets, such as The Guardian, are also voicing their concern about the charges levelled against the jailed publisher.

Yet some continue to back the USs attempt to punish Assange.

Here are some highlights from world leaders, diplomats, academics and celebrities:

The Argentinian president, who has been described as a leftist, was one of the signatories of the September letter, which described the allegations against Assange as troubling.

We call on you to act in accordance with national and international law, human rights and the rule of law by bringing an end to the ongoing extradition proceedings and granting Mr. Assange his long overdue freedom freedom from torture, arbitrary detention and deprivation of liberty, and political persecution, the letter said.

The former Labour Party leader and current UK MP, a veteran socialist, has said possible extradition to the US should be opposed, and called for the rights of whistle-blowers and journalists to be upheld for the good of all of us.

The ex-Brazilian president has consistently demanded Assange be released. In September, he wrote a column for the UKs Guardian newspaper saying Assanges possible extradition to the US would be an outrage.

Linguist and political critic Noam Chomsky, one of the worlds leading intellectuals, claims extraditing Assange would be catastrophic for press freedom.

Assange is on trial for his journalism, for his principles, not his personality, he and writer Alice Walker said, in an op-ed for the UK-based paper The Independent.

The world-renowned artist has hailed the WikiLeaks founder, asserting that Assange represents a core value of why we are free a comment that referred to press freedom.

We need a lot of protesting, and it can take any form. Im an artist, if I cannot use my art, its very limited, then Id rather just be silent, he said at a pro-Assange rally in September.

The former Ecuador president has long been a supporter of the Australian, granting him asylum in 2012 at the countrys embassy in the UK.

After his successor and current President Lenin Moreno revoked Assanges asylum, leading to his arrest by UK authorities, Correa strongly condemned the decision.

Scoundrel and betrayal can be summarised in two words: Lenin Moreno, he said.

Earlier this month, former Republican vice presidential candidate Palin demanded Assange be pardoned.

I made a mistake some years ago, not supporting Julian Assange thinking that he was a bad guy, Palin said on social media. And Ive learned a lot since then He deserves a pardon.

Palin had previously been an ardent critic of Assange, who released private emails and photos of the former Alaska governor in 2008 during her election campaign.

The television and film actor took to social media in September and appealed to Trump to pardon Assange.

Anderson, who shot to stardom after starring in the popular 1990s TV series Baywatch, has long supported the WikiLeaks founder, visiting him in London before and after his arrest from the Ecuadorian embassy.

The Pink Floyd co-founder has been spotted in several protests over the years in support of Assanges release and against his extradition.

At a pro-Assange rally in September 2019, Waters sang the bands track Wish You Were Here in honour of the 49-year-old Australian. The song was originally written to pay tribute to another co-founder of Pink Floyd, the late Syd Barrett who died in 2006.

Democrat congresswoman and 2020 presidential candidate Gabbard has been one of the most vocal voices demanding Trump pardon Assange. She said the WikiLeaks founder acted in the public interest to expose lies and egregious abuses of power in our government.

Since youre giving pardons to people, please consider pardoning those who, at great personal sacrifice, exposed the deception and criminality of those in the deep state, Gabbard tweeted last month, in support of Assange and NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

The US whistle-blower Snowden has called on Trump to pardon Assange, tweeting on December 3: Mr. President, if you grant only one act of clemency during your time in office, please: free Julian Assange. You alone can save his life. @realDonaldTrump.

British rapper MIA has described Assange as an icon on a scale weve never had, and has previously visited him at Belmarsh, a high-security prison where he is currently being held.

In an interview with Al Jazeera last year, the Sri Lankan born musician said, Persecuting him [Assange] wont solve any of the problems we have as humanity going forwards.

A renowned American whistle-blower, Ellsberg has said Assanges release of the Afghanistan and Iraq war logs were comparable importance to the Pentagon Papers a study on the American war Vietnam, which he leaked in 1971.

The former military analyst made the comments at Assanges trial in September.

It was clear to me that these revelations, like the Pentagon Papers, have the capability of informing the public that they had seriously been misled about the nature of war, progress in war, the likelihood of it ending at all, he told the court.

The Ecuadorian president was responsible for revoking Assanges asylum at the countrys embassy in London leading to his arrest.

Moreno accused the WikiLeaks publisher of spying during his stay at the embassy.

We cannot allow our house, the house that opened its doors, to become a centre for spying. This activity violates asylum conditions. Our decision is not arbitrary but is based on international law, Morena said, according to The Guardian.

Upon his arrest, Clinton said Assange must answer for what he has done.

I think it is clear from the indictment that came out its not about punishing journalism, it is about assisting the hacking of a military computer to steal information from the United States government, she said.

During the 2016 US presidential campaign, Assange and WikiLeaks published a series of hacked Democratic National Committee emails that proved to be a big embarrassment and source of criticism for Clinton and the Democrats.

The current US Senate majority leader has in the past been highly critical of Assange, calling him a high-tech terrorist in 2010.

McConnell said Assange had done enormous damage to the US and its work with other nations.

Former national security adviser to US President Donald Trump, Bolton has previously said that US cyber-warfare people should use WikiLeaks for target practice.

The Republican politician was an ardent supporter of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq while serving in government during the George W Bush administration.