Local calls for the Australian Government to speak up for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange intensified this month with a rally at Echo Point.
Amongst milling crowds photographing the Three Sisters, three masked figures emulated Davide Dormino's "Anything to Say?" sculpture of whistleblowers Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Bradley Manning standing on chairs with a fourth empty chair.
A string of speakers took up the invitation to stand on the empty chair "and speak up for Julian as he has spoken up for us" at the September 17 protest.
This began with a Welcome to Country by Gundungurra and Darug elder Aunty Carol Cooper who called for Julian Assange to be freed to return to his family.
"He is being punished for telling the truth. The children need their father. This is the worst thing you can do to a parent and children."
Mr Assange has been in Britain's Maximum Security Belmarsh Prison for more than three years while he fights extradition to the USA. He faces 17 charges under the US Espionage Act related to the publication of confidential US Government files about the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Guantanamo Bay Military Prison.
Blue Mountains for Assange activist Bronwyn Tuohy said: "Our rally at this world-famous First Nations sacred site was a loudhailer to the Australian Government.
"Prime Minister Albanese supports truth-telling about the invasion of this continent, yet he has gone on mute for the Australian citizen being persecuted by the US and UK governments for truth-telling about their invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Australia participated in those wars which the Wikileaks releases revealed fostered torture by America and its allies and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people."
In August, Mr Assange submitted his Perfected Grounds of Appeal against the approved extradition to the USA. The UK High Court will determine whether to consider the appeal in October.
Earlier in the year, Mr Assange's lawyer Jennifer Robinson won a European Court case against the British Government for confiscating and passing Mr Assange's legal files to the CIA.
Ms Tuohy said: "This is a political witch-hunt. The abuse of the justice system against an award-winning Australian journalist and publisher for telling the truth needs to be stopped now through political intervention by his own government."
On 8 October, human chains in support of Julian Assange will 'surround Parliament' in London and in Canberra.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated after being elected that the government intends to pursue the matter diplomatically, saying "not all foreign affairs is best done with the loudhailer."