“It is also the subject of a European arrest warrant”, the document concluded.
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Hours later, the office of President Francois Hollande responded in a statement that read: “France can not act on his request”.
Assange added that Ecuador had probably saved his life by giving him sanctuary inside its embassy in London, thus protecting from extradition.
Le Monde daily earlier published an open letter by Assange to Mr Hollande, saying his life was in danger. The Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, had already hinted several times that he was not favorable to a possible home of Mr Assange in France. Assange has not been charged with a crime in the US, and there hasn’t been an extradition request.
Although there have been rumors that some political leaders were in favor of granting Mr. Assange asylum on the basis of the service he had done to the country of France by revealing the USA spying conspiracy against French government.
Such an offer of protection would be a “humanitarian and symbolic gesture” and send a message of encouragement “to journalists and whistleblowers around the world”.
Assange has said that if he goes to Sweden to face the charges he fears he will be extradited to the U.S. where he claims he may face the death penalty.
The long letter, which was titled “Mr Hollande, Welcome me in France”, started with Assange introducing himself as “Julian Paul Assange, born on July 3rd, 1971 in Townsville”.
Swedish prosecutors have repeatedly refused to come to Britain to speak to him about the allegations but, in March of this year, they said they would be willing to interview him in the UK.
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An inquiry is ongoing in America into the release by the whistleblower site in 2010 of 500,000 classified U.S. military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and 250,000 diplomatic cables.
