WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is appearing in a London courtroom today one week after his arrest on an international warrant to face sexual crime allegations in Sweden. Assange is asking to be released on bail as he fights his extradition to Sweden amidst the international uproar over WikiLeaks’ most recent publication of secret U.S. diplomatic cables. The U.S. Department of Justice is rumored to have empaneled a federal grand jury to indict Assange for publishing the cables. Earlier today, Assange’s mother, Christine Assange, spoke out after a brief conversation with her son.

Christine Assange: “He’s being held in the basement of the prison, right in the middle of the prison, in solitary confinement. As a mother, I’m asking the world to stand up for my brave son.”

An online petition by the website Avaaz in support of WikiLeaks has attracted over 600,000 signatures. Among the latest prominent backers to volunteer as guarantors for Assange’s bail money is the U.S. filmmaker Michael Moore, who says he has put up $20,000 for Assange’s release. In a statement released today to Australian television, Julian Assange said, “My convictions are unfaltering. I remain true to the ideals I have expressed… If anything, this process has increased my determination that they are true and correct.”