"I am of the opinion that it would be good if the UK courts gave him the necessary protection, because he should expect prosecution in the US, taking into account the fact he disclosed US state secrets," Scholz was quoted as saying by the German broadcaster Tagesschau.
In February, a UK court held hearings to consider the US extradition request for Assange. Judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson said they would issue their ruling later. Later, Wikileaks said that Assange will have his last chance to prevent his extradition to the US at a hearing in a UK court in March.
One of the last means of preventing his transfer to the US may be an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Assange lost his previous appeal at the UK High Court last June.
WikiLeaks was founded by Assange in 2006 but rose to prominence in 2010 when it began publishing large-scale leaks of classified government information, including from the US.