Pirate Bay founder Gottfrid Svartholm appeared in court today and had his custody extended to February 5. Meanwhile, a petition to free the Pirate Bay founder, or at minimum improve his current conditions, swelled to more than 50,000 signatories. Svartholm is suspected of several hacking-related crimes in Denmark, where he is locked up without free access to mail or his books.

Following a failed appeal to the Supreme Court in Sweden, Gottfrid Svartholm was extradited to Denmark last November.

The Pirate Bay founder stands accused of hacking into the mainframe computers of IT company CSC. In an earlier case in Sweden he was acquitted of similar charges, but convicted for hacking into IT company Logica.

Today, Svartholm appeared in court during a closed session, much to the disappointment of his supporters and members of the press who were denied access.

During the hearing the court extended Svartholm’s custody until February 5, at minimum. Until then he is expected to be detained in relative isolation, without free access to his mail and books.

Anakata supporters gathered outside the courthouse (via @ClausBuhr)

In an attempt to free the Swede, or at least improve his circumstances, a petition was launched recently, directed at the Danish Prime Minister.

Initially there were only a few hundred backers but when a banner was added to the homepage of The Pirate Bay this quickly grew to more than 50,000. Among other things, the petition demands that Gottfrid is given free access to books and other reading material.

“With only 9 hours a week of contact outside of his isolation cell, reading and educational materials are important for Anakata. He is a computer genius and it is important for not only mental but physical health to keep a mind active,” the petition reads.

The “signatures” of the petition backers will be handed over to the judge overseeing the case, but whether this massive support will help Svartholm has yet to be seen.

Luckily for Svartholm, his situation already improved somewhat last week. He is no longer kept in solitary confinement as he was before, and the 9 hour restriction was cancelled at the same time.

Pirate Bay supports Anakata’s petition

Both Svartholm and his 20-year-old co-defendant have pleaded not guilty to the hacking allegations. According to his lawyer Luise Høj, Gottfrid believes the case rests on a misunderstanding.

“He doesn’t understand why he is mixed up in this case. For each passing day he seems to be being subjected to another unfair treatment. He can only wait and hope that the court makes the right decision when the time comes,” Høj says.

The authorities, however, are convinced that Svartholm is involved. Among other things, they note that the hacking suddenly stopped when he was arrested in Cambodia in 2011.

The defense and prosecution are expected to present their arguments during a trial later this year.

Update: The article was updated to clarify that Svartholm’s solitary confinement and the restriction to meet with other inmates, have been cancelled.