In Response to Open Letter, France Rejects Asylum For Julian Assange

Several outlets report that Julian Assange has requested, but been denied, political asylum in France, by means of an open letter published by Le Monde. From The Globe and Mail's coverage, linked above: Less than an hour after his letter was published by Le Monde's website, Hollande's office issued a statement saying the asylum request was rejected.

"France has received the letter from Mr. Assange. An in-depth review shows that in view of the legal and material elements of Mr Assange's situation, France cannot grant his request," the statement said.

"The situation of Mr. Assange does not present any immediate danger. He is also the target of a European arrest warrant," it noted.

Assange wrote in the letter that his youngest child is French, and so is the child’s mother. "I haven't been able to see them in five years, since the political persecution against me started," he said. Worth noting: Assange's legal team says that Assange's letter has been mischaracterized, and that it is in fact not a request for asylum per se; instead, they assert, the letter merely expresses Assange's "willingness 'to be hosted in France if and only if an initiative was taken by the competent authorities.'"

Comments

Re:Why should they change?

[x0ra]

Given the awfully broad "rape" law in Sweden, I don't mind.

Re: Why should they change?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nowadays it's practically sexual harassment to even flirt with or compliment a woman. And God forbid the woman didn't like consensual sex. The next morning, she goes to the police, claims she was raped, and now it's guilty until proven innocent for the man.

And yet feminists still go around claiming women are discriminated against and need more protections? Feminism has really fucked up western society, and it seems to be irreversible at this point, especially as women keep gaining more and more power. And you can't even criticize women without a horde of SJW beta males rushing to her protection. These males have been brainwashed so much by feminism to believe that this will get them laid, but in reality, after the woman has thanked them profusely for being there for her to protect her against the assholes, she goes off to fuck one of these assholes. I'd put "lol" here if it wasn't so sad at the same time.

Men, please start acting like men instead of sissies. And women, realize that there are differences between men and women, that things will never be entirely equal, and that you are not oppressed, but rather have a huge advantage over men and always will because you have the power of mate choice on your side (men have to impress women, women are just able to choose whichever she wants. Yes there are a few exceptions where men have mate choice, like the ultra rich and powerful, but for 99.99% of cases, the woman has this power).

Snowden deserves asylum; Assange doesn't

[billstewart]

Snowden deserves asylum - he's wanted for a political crime, he's clearly guilty of violating US laws, and the US government doesn't accept a necessity defense when they're the ones he blew the whistle on, and even if he got a jury trial they'd make sure no juror who supports him would be picked.

Assange is a different case - the US wants him for political reasons, but Sweden wants him on trial for rape. There's a significant risk that if he goes back, gets a fair trial, and is found not guilty, the US will kidnap\\\\\\extradite him so they can try him for political crimes, and asylum would be appropriate then. But it's not appropriate now.