PARIS.- Deputies of the left-wing coalition New Popular Ecologist and Social Union (NUPES) of France presented this Monday before the National Assembly a project to demand that it be granted political asylum to the journalist and founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assangewho is currently incarcerated in the United Kingdom awaiting extradition to the United States.
The coalition has announced through its Twitter account the presentation of a resolution proposal to grant political asylum to Assange, supporting the position of the coalition leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who during the electoral campaign of last year affirmed that he would grant French nationality if he won the elections.
The deputy of La France Insoumisa, Arnaud Le Gall, stressed the importance of linking Assange’s fight to the French Constitution in defense of those who fight for freedom and reiterated that the journalist must be granted asylum.
The draft resolution has the signature of approximately 60 NUPES deputies and seeks to denounce the alleged judicial harassment that Assange has faced for a long time.
Assange, who founded Wikileaks in 2006 and rose to fame in 2010 after leaking classified US government documents, faces 18 espionage-related criminal charges. In case of being transferred to the North American country, he could face a sentence of up to 175 years in prison, although the US authorities have mentioned the possibility of a sentence of four to six years.
The activist has been imprisoned in the United Kingdom since April 2019, when he was arrested after almost seven years as a refugee in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Assange sought asylum at the embassy to prevent his extradition to Sweden, where he too was facing charges, and to prevent his further extradition to the United States.
The presentation of this draft resolution in the National Assembly of France shows the support of deputies from the NUPES coalition for the cause of Julian Assange, requesting his political asylum and highlighting the importance of protecting freedom of expression and the right to information in the context of the legal persecution faced by the founder of Wikileaks.
FUENTE: With information from Europa Press
