Grant political asylum to whistleblower Julian Assange? The National Assembly debated Friday, February 4, a motion for a transpartisan resolution inviting the French government to grant refugee status to the founder of WikiLeaks, with the key being a refusal from the executive and the majority.
A non-binding vote: 17 for, 31 against
Examined as part of a day devoted to the opposition group Libertés et Territoires, the text defended by the deputy Jennifer de Temmerman had only a symbolic significance because it was not binding.
He nevertheless received the support of presidential candidates, the Communist Fabien Roussel and the Insoumis Jean-Luc Mélenchon, of ecologist deputies, centrists of the UDI, a socialist and a handful of elected officials from the majority.
The examination of this resolution took place a few days after the agreement between the Assembly and the Senate on a bill by Modem deputy Sylvain Waserman for better protection of whistleblowers in France. Despite the vehemence and lyricism of pro-Assange speakers, MPs voted against the resolution by 17 votes in favor and 31 against.
Julian Assange faces 175 years in prison in the United States
“Today is a victory. We give back a voice to those who no longer have one”, however greeted Ms. de Temmerman about Julian Assange, imprisoned in the United Kingdom since 2019 after spending seven years in the London embassy of Ecuador where he is. was a refugee.
He then feared extradition to the United States or Sweden, where he was the subject of rape proceedings, since abandoned.
Julian Assange is claimed by the American justice which charged him under the anti-espionage laws. He faces 175 years in prison for having allowed the publication of tens of thousands of confidential documents, in particular on American operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.