Hundreds of Australians rallied in support of WikiLeaks and its Australian-born founder Julian Assange yesterday, urging the government to stand up for the rights of the 39-year-old former hacker.

The protests around the country came as activist group GetUp! said that more than 50,000 people had signed a petition supporting freedom of information, raising close to $250,000 to publish it in US newspapers.

The protests, which marked International Human Rights Day, criticised Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s comments that Assange had acted illegally in relation to the leaking of hundreds of US diplomatic cables.

“I absolutely condemn the placement of this information on the WikiLeaks website – it’s a grossly irresponsible thing to do and an illegal thing to do,” Ms Gillard said earlier this month.

The Prime Minister has since stood by her comments, saying that Australian police were investigating and adding that the “foundation stone” of the leaks was an illegal act.

But at a protest outside Sydney’s central Town Hall, about 400 people gathered to reject this idea, some carrying banners such as “Merry Christmas – and a leaky new year” and “C’mon Julia, which law has Assange broken?”.

And in Brisbane, those gathered outside the foreign ministry’s office heard calls for a strong message to be sent to governments all over the world protesting against the treatment of Mr Assange.

GetUp! said that Mr Assange, who has been remanded in custody in Britain on sex assault allegations from Sweden, faced the prospect of being extradited to the US to face charges related to the leaking of the sensitive cables.

“Regardless of what you think about WikiLeaks or Julian Assange, we are really hoping that the government comes forward and commits to some of those really basic principles we live by, in terms of access to a fair trial and innocence until proven guilty,” spokesman Paul Mackay said.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said Mr Assange was entitled to the same consular support given to any citizen in his situation, but would not comment on whether Canberra had sought assurances that Assange would not be sent to a third country.