Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Julian Assange's fame won't buy him any special treatment, but supporters of the WikiLeaks founder say the government must stop pretending the international scandal is a regular consular issue.
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Australian officials will visit the WikiLeaks founder in a London jail on Friday after he was carried out of the Ecuadorian embassy, almost seven years after taking refuge there.
He was promptly put before a British court, where the judge branded him a narcissist and convicted him of skipping bail in 2012.
Mr Morrison said Assange was receiving nothing more than standard consular assistance and must face the music like any other Australian in legal hot water overseas.
"It's got nothing to do with us, it is a matter for the US," he said of the extradition bid.
Supporters fear Assange could face the death penalty if the US succeeds in a bid to extradite and try him over the release of thousands of classified US government documents almost a decade ago.
Assange's mother tweeted on Friday describing her son's situation as "a David and Goliath fight".
She encouraged Australians to "bail up" their politicians and ask their position on Assange's arrest and possible extradition.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne says Australia remains "completely opposed" to capital punishment, and noted the UK has sought assurances from America that Assange won't be exposed to a death sentence if he was sent there.
"The extradition process itself is a matter between the United States and the United Kingdom, but we have also been provided with that advice from the UK," she told reporters.
"Australia ... is completely opposed to the death penalty and that is a bipartisan position and one which we have continued to advocate."
Former Greens Senator Scott Ludlam called for Mr Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to step in.
"The moment for pretending that this is just a regular consular matter and standing on the sidelines is well and truly over," Mr Ludlam told ABC News.
"It's gone way beyond that."
Earlier on Friday, Amnesty International called on the UK not to send Assange to the US if he was at risk of human rights violations.
Lawyer Jennifer Robinson said her client Assange had an "I told you so" moment in jail, after telling the world for years that the US would never give up on its pursuit of him.
In Washington, the US Justice Department said Assange was charged with conspiring to commit computer intrusion with former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010.
Hundreds of thousands of US military reports about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were later published by WikiLeaks, as well as American diplomatic communications.
Supporters of Assange were kicked off the Sydney Opera House steps after unfolding a "Free Assange" banner on Friday morning.
Dozens of supporters also gathered outside the UK consulate in Sydney's CBD chanting "Bring Julian home" and "UK must resist" and "Don't shoot the messenger".
About 50 gathered at a rally outside the State Library in Melbourne.
Assange faces up to five years in prison if convicted, with legal experts saying more charges are possible before he's extradited.
Australian Associated Press
