France’s government has said it would consider offering Julian Assange political asylum if he were to ask the country for refuge.

The WikiLeaks founder’s French lawyer, Juan Branco, had appealed to president Emmanuel Macron to intervene in the case and prevent the hacker being extradited from a UK prison to the US.

Mr Branco said on Thursday Mr Macron should offer mediation and “take this man under our protection”, adding that Assange has a small child in France.

France’s minister for Europe, Amelie de Montchalin, said in a radio interview on Friday that the country had not received a request for help from Assange.

“We should listen to what he wants to do”, she said, before also adding “we don’t offer asylum to someone who’s not asking for it.”

Key moments for Julian Assange Show all 9 1 /9 Key moments for Julian Assange Key moments for Julian Assange The situation today Assange was arrested after Metropolitan Police officers were invited into the Ecuadorian embassy on April 11 2019. How did it come to this? Ruptly TV Key moments for Julian Assange The break Assange shows the front page of the Guardian on July 26 2010, the day that they broke the story of the thousands of military files leaked by WikiLeaks AFP/Getty Key moments for Julian Assange Wanted A warrant for Assange's arrest was issued in August 2010 for counts of rape and molestation in Sweden AFP/Getty Key moments for Julian Assange Ruling The UK's Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face trial Getty Key moments for Julian Assange Sanctuary Following the ruling, Assange was given asylum by the Ecuadorian governement over fears that his human rights would be violated if he were extradited, he has since remained in the embassy in London Getty Key moments for Julian Assange A friend in Pam Friend Pamela Anderson delivers lunch to Assange at the embassy in October 2016. She has since spoken against his arrest Getty Key moments for Julian Assange Arbitrarily detained A UN panel found in 2016 that Assange had been arbitrarily detained and that he had not been able to claim his full right to asylum. It urged Sweden to withdraw the charges against him Getty Key moments for Julian Assange The cat ultimatum Last year, the Ecuadorian embassy threatened to revoke Assange's internet access unless he stopped making political statements online and started taking better care of James, his pet cat. Assange accused Ecuador of violating his rights Reuters Key moments for Julian Assange Arrest Assange was arrested on April 11 2019. Ecuador revoked his asylum status and invited the Metropolitan Police in to the embassy to arrest him. Reuters

Despite Ms de Montchalin’s comments suggesting France would be open to at least considering an appeal for asylum from Assange, Mr Macron has yet to comment on the matter.

Assange was arrested in London on Thursday after the ambassador at the Ecuadorian embassy, where he had enjoyed political asylum for the past seven years, rescinded his asylum status.

He was then taken to Westminster Magistrates’ Court, where he was promptly found guilty of breaching his bail conditions in relation to a Swedish investigation into rape allegations.

The US has also charged Assange with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion with former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, a first step in what is likely to be a long extradition battle.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn has called on the government to stop Assange being extradited to the US, a move WikiLeaks has claimed could see him spend decades in prison.

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“The extradition of Julian Assange to the US for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan should be opposed by the British government,” the Labour leader wrote on Twitter.

Theresa May, home secretary Sajid Javid and foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt all said Assange’s arrest on Thursday showed that no one is “above the law”.