The mother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange took to social media following his arrest on Thursday in London, where he spent seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy to evade authorities in Sweden and the United States.

“A mother’s plea to police, prison officers, court staff re my son Julian. He’s been *8 yrs detained WITHOUT charge *6yrs deprived fresh air, exercise, sun/VitD *3 yrs sick/in pain denied proper medical/dental care *1yr isolated/tortured,” Christine Assange tweeted on Friday as the Associated Press reported.

“Please be patient, gentle & kind to him,” she tweeted:

Assange’s Twitter account says she is the “mother of journalist Julian Assange, detained 8 yrs without charge for exposing high level corruption.

As Breitbart News reported: 

Last week, WikiLeaks said sources within the Ecuadorian government told them that Assange was due to be expelled from the embassy “within hours to days,” an allegation the Ecuadorians were quick to deny. It now seems those reports were accurate.

WikiLeaks has maintained that Assange is likely to be extradited to the United States if expelled from the embassy, and was mocked as paranoid by some in the mainstream media for repeated claims that sealed charges existed in the U.S. against the journalist. WikiLeaks was eventually vindicated, as the existence of those sealed charges was revealed in November last year.

AP reported: 

Australia said on Friday it would oppose the death penalty for Julian Assange if he’s extradited to the United States, as protesters in Sydney called for his release and Australia’s journalists’ union voiced its strong support for him.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said any extradition plans had “nothing to do with Australia,” and that Assange would receive only standard assistance from Australian consular officials. The 47-year-old would have to face the consequences of any breach of the law in foreign jurisdictions, Morrison said.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne, however, responded to fears from Assange’s supporters over his possible punishment in the U.S., saying Australia is “completely opposed to the death penalty.” She said Britain had sought assurances from the U.S. that Assange would not be exposed to the death penalty if he was extradited.

“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 U.K.,” Payne told reporters in the AP report. “Australia … is completely opposed to the death penalty and that is a bipartisan position and one which we have continued to advocate.”

Some are protesting Assange’s arrest, including the Green Party in the United States, which held a protest on Thursday night at the British embassy in Washington, DC.

Follow Penny Starr on Twitter.