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Julian Assange

Paris — The French government rejected an asylum request from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange yesterday, saying he did not face “immediate danger”.

“France cannot act on his request,” said the office of President Francois Hollande in a statement, just hours after Assange wrote an open letter to the government requesting asylum.

“The situation of Mr Assange does not present an immediate danger. Furthermore, he’s subject to a European arrest warrant,” Hollande’s office said.

In his letter to the president, published earlier yesterday in Le Monde newspaper, Assange described himself as a “journalist pursued and threatened with death by the US’ authorities as a result of my professional activities”.

Assange, who turned 44 yesterday, has spent over three years holed up in the Ecuador embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces allegations by two women, one of rape and one of sexual assault, which he denies.

The former computer hacker fears extradition to Sweden could lead to him being transferred to the US to face trial over WikiLeaks’ publication of classified US military and diplomatic documents. — AFP