WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange hires Kiwi PR guru Richard Hillgrove

Julian Assange's personal PR man, New Zealander Richard Hillgrove on the rooftop of the New Zealand High Commission in London. Photo credit: Ki Price.

Controversial WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has hired a Kiwi PR guru to bolster his global image while he remains holed up in a London embassy.

New Zealand publicist Richard Hillgrove, whose previous employers include Charles Saatchi, Dame Vivienne Westwood and Steven Seagal, has been working with the Australian activist for the past five months with a brief to "ensure he has a powerful voice in world media and to ensure the truth is told".

Assange has become one of the world's most polarising figures after his WikiLeaks group's storing and publishing of previously secret documents.

The 47-year-old jumped bail in 2012 and sought shelter in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London's Kensington to avoid extradition to Sweden where prosecutors were investigating allegations of sexual assault and rape made by two women. Assange denied the claims, saying they formed part of a political conspiracy.

The Swedish investigation has since been dropped but Assange fears extradition to the US for publishing hacked military emails.

The Christchurch-born and Massey University-educated Hillgrove, 47, came to work for the WikiLeaks figurehead after being connected by Assange's long-serving lawyer Jennifer Robinson, according to an interview with UK marketing and advertising trade news site, The Drum.

The Kiwi expatriate and founder of 6 Hillgrove Public Relations, who was convicted in 2014 on a £93,000 tax fraud, said he's trying to make Assange's PR "less personal".

"The cult of personality aspect around Julian Assange has caused a lot of his problems," Hillgrove told The Drum in a Q&A.

"It's, unfortunately, got very personal. It's almost as if people like former CIA director and now Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have got it in for Julian Assange on a personal level. Him saying, 'Julian Assange has no first amendment rights' is ridiculous.

"Even though he's broken no laws and simply published the truth, in exactly the same way the New York Times or Guardian do, they are treating him personally like some sort of criminal.

"The move [to] take him out of the editor role of WikiLeaks is a good start to de-personalising everything."

Hillgrove believes his PR skills have "greatly amplified" Assange's message but he wants to get "more supportive voices" come forward and to reinforce the United Nations ruling that he has been arbitrarily detained and that there are serious concerns about his health.

"Not just the usual voices like Vivienne Westwood and Pamela Anderson, but other people coming forward," Hillgrove said.

"Everyone's very frightened to put their head above the parapet."