The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who is known for being incredibly outspoken against social injustice and the silencing of people by governments, has now staged a silent protest in front of a London court in support of WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange.

Assange is facing 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse. In order to protest these charges that he felt were not just, Ai Weiwei staged a silent protest and held a sign that read “Free Assange, No US Extradition.” 

After spending seven years at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London before getting arrested, Assange has been charged with espionage and computer misuse over WikiLeaks’s release of 500,000 secret military documents belonging to the American military in 2010.

In an article in AP News, Ai Weiwei shared: “[Assange] truly represents a core value of why we are free — because we have freedom of the press […] we need a lot of protesting, and it can take any form. I’m an artist, if I cannot use my art, it’s very limited, then I’d rather just be silent.”

Photo via AP News/Kirsty Wigglesworth