WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange has denied filing a request for asylum in France after revealing the existence of a child he hasn’t seen for five years. The situation of Mr Assange presents no immediate danger. “Furthermore, he is subject to a European arrest warrant”. “He published an open letter in Le Monde to Hollande and the public”. In response to the open letter, Hollande’s office said that “on account of the legal elements and material situation of Mr Assange, France can not act on the request”.
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The French government, reacting to a letter from Julian Assange, said Friday it would not give the WikiLeaks founder asylum, only for his lawyers to claim he had never sought it in the first place. It came after the French government indicated that such asylum may be granted in the wake of revelations of alleged NSA surveillance of senior French officials. “France is the only country that can offer me the necessary protection against.. the political persecutions I face”. “France has received the letter from Mr. Assange”.
Assange wrote, “In welcoming me, France would achieve a humanitarian but also probably symbolic gesture, sending encouragement to all the journalists and whistleblowers who, across the world, risk their lives on a daily basis in order to allow their fellow citizens to move another step closer to the truth”.
Mr Assange – an Australian journalist and activist – has not been formally charged, but prosecutors want to question him over allegations of rape and sexual misconduct made by two women he met during a trip to Sweden in August 2010.
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The ex- computer hacker fears extradition to Sweden could lead to him being transferred to the United States to face trial over WikiLeaks’ publication of classified United States military and diplomatic documents.
