A judge in London has found WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange guilty of breaching his bail at Westminster Magistrates Court.

Key points: Julian Assange was taken from the Ecuadorian embassy by British police

Julian Assange was taken from the Ecuadorian embassy by British police He sought asylum at the London embassy for six years, fearing US extradition

He sought asylum at the London embassy for six years, fearing US extradition The US plans to extradite Assange related to conspiracy charges about data leaks

Judge Michael Snow quickly issued his verdict on Thursday after Assange appeared in court, with his supporters packing the public gallery.

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The basis of Assange's defence was that he could not expect a fair trial in British courts as the United Kingdom's purpose was to "secure his delivery" to the United States.

Assange said he was not guilty of failing to surrender to court in 2012, and his lawyer said Assange would not give evidence.

Minutes later the judge convicted him of skipping bail.

"His assertion that he has not had a fair hearing is laughable," Justice Snow said.

"And his behaviour is that of a narcissist who cannot get past his own self-interest."

Assange faced sexual assault allegations in Sweden when he sought asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London 2012, fearing extradition to the US.

Assange remained in the embassy for a total of six years, but in recent months, relations between the Australian and his Ecuadorian hosts had turned sour.

His tenure ended in a dramatic arrest by British police at the invitation of Ecuador, and the country has subsequently revoked his Ecuadorian citizenship.

Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor in chief of WikiLeaks, right, warned awaiting global media about the threats to journalism. ( Reuters: Henry Nicholls )

The sexual assault charges have since been dropped, but a charge of skipping bail remained in place.

Assange faces a sentence of up to 12 months, and has been remanded in custody to await sentencing at Southwark Crown Court.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Assange would not be given any special treatment but would be treated like any other Australian and receive consular support.

"When Australians travel overseas and they find themselves in difficulties with the law, well they face the judicial systems of those countries, it doesn't matter what particular crime it is they've allegedly committed," Mr Morrison said.

"That's the way the system works."

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia remained "completely opposed" to the death penalty amid fears Assange could be exposed to such punishment if he is extradited to the US.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 38 seconds 38 s Scott Morrison said Julian Assange won't get "special treatment".

For now, he faces a single computer conspiracy charge in the US that does not carry the death penalty, but his supporters fear more serious charges may be brought later.

Ms Payne said the UK had sought assurances from the US that Assange would not be exposed to the death penalty.

Lawyer from Swedish case makes a reopening bid

Swedish news site Expressen has reported Elisabeth Massi Fritz, a lawyer representing one of Assange's accusers, has submitted a request to the Swedish prosecutor's office to resume the case's preliminary investigation.

In a statement to The Guardian, Ms Fritz spoke of her client's desire for the case to be reopened.

"We are going to do everything we possibly can to get the Swedish police investigation reopened so that Assange can be extradited to Sweden and prosecuted for rape," the statement read.

"No rape victim should have to wait nine years to see justice be served."

Anna Ardin, another of Assange's Swedish accusers, wrote on Twitter that she would be "very surprised and sad" if he was extradited.

"For me this was never about anything else than his misconduct against me/women and his refusal to take responsibility for this," she said.

Sweden's prosecution authority has confirmed Ms Fritz's request.

US extradition request to be heard later

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 5 minutes 45 seconds 5 m Geoffrey Robertson QC, doubted the Australian Government had the "gumption" to protest Assange's extradition.

The US has alleged the Australian-born founder of WikiLeaks engaged in a 2010 conspiracy with Chelsea Manning, who served seven years in military prison for leaking classified data, and charged him with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion with a maximum penalty of five years' prison.

A statement released by the US Federal Justice Department said Assange played a "role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States".

Supporters of Julian Assange protested outside of the Westminster Magistrates' Court. ( AP: Matt Dunham )

"In March 2010, Assange engaged in a conspiracy with Chelsea Manning, a former intelligence analyst in the US Army, to assist Manning in cracking a password stored on US Department of Defence computers connected to the Secret Internet Protocol Network (SIPRNet), a US government network used for classified documents and communications," it read.

The story of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks has ignited global media interest. ( AP: Matt Dunham )

Manning is currently serving jail time for refusing to testify before a US grand jury investigating WikiLeaks.

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Her legal team have since cited Assange's extradition request in an appeal to the judge.

"The fact that this indictment has existed for over a year underscores what Chelsea's legal team and Chelsea herself have been saying since she was first issued a subpoena to appear in front of a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia — that compelling Chelsea to testify would have been duplicative of evidence already in the possession of the grand jury," her legal team said.

The alleged data breach is central to WikiLeaks's publishing of hundreds of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables that laid bare often highly critical US appraisals of world leaders, from Russian President Vladimir Putin to members of the Saudi royal family.

Assange made international headlines in early 2010 when WikiLeaks published a classified US military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff.

Assange's lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, said his arrest set a "dangerous precedent for all media organisations and journalists".

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"Since 2010 we've warned that Julian Assange would face prosecution and extradition to the United States for his publishing activities with WikiLeaks," she told the media outside Westminster Magistrates Court.

"Unfortunately today we've been proven right.

"This sets a dangerous precedent for all media organisations and journalists in Europe and elsewhere around the world.

"This precedent means that any journalist can be extradited for prosecution in the United States for having published truthful information about the United States."

Assange's lawyer in Quito said his life would be in danger if he were extradited to the United States.

Assange will face Westminster Magistrates Court via video link on May 2 to hear his US extradition request.

Assange 'must answer for what he has done', Clinton says

Former secretary of state and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Assange must "answer for what he has done".

Speaking at an event with her husband, former president Bill Clinton, she said it was "clear from the indictment" that his arrest was "not about punishing journalism, it's about assisting the hacking of the military computer to steal information from the United States Government".

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 1 m Hillary Clinton says Assange 'has to answer for what he has done'

"The bottom line is that he has to answer for what he has done, at least as it has been charged," she said.

WikiLeaks's publication of Democratic emails stolen by Russian intelligence officers during the 2016 election season hurt Mrs Clinton's presidential campaign. She has previously called Assange a tool of Russian intelligence.

Donald Trump frequently showered praise on Assange during the final weeks of the campaign and cheered on the release of damaging emails from Mrs Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta.

In a tongue-in-cheek nod to Mr Trump's hard-line immigration stance, Mrr Clinton added: "I do think it's a little ironic that he's the only foreigner this administration would welcome to the United States."

ABC/wires