Mexican President renews asylum offer for Assange
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Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has renewed his offer for asylum to WikiLeaks boss Julian Assange, who is presently waiting to be extradited to the US following a UK court ruling in favor of an appeal by Washington.
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If granted asylum in Mexico, Assange would not be a threat, López Obrador said (photo credit: AP)
President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he had requested former US President Donald Trump, before he left the White House, to pardon WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and added that he asked again, on Monday, to grant Assange political asylum.
"We think that the US government should act humanely. Assange is sick and it would be a show of solidarity, brotherhood to allow him to have asylum in a country, in which Assange will decide to live, including in Mexico," Obrador said in a press conference.
In December, the US government overturned a block on the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from Britain to face trial for publishing top-secret documents exposing war crimes perpetrated by the US and its allies across the globe, although options to appeal remain open to his legal team.
López Obrador’s letter recommending Assange be pardoned was never replied to, the Mexican President said in his speech.
If granted asylum in Mexico, Assange would not be able to intervene in other countries' affairs and would not be a threat, López Obrador added.
Assange's health deteriorating
Julian Assange's brother Gabriel Shipton has said he fears for his brother's life amid his legal battle against his extradition to the United States.
Assange's brother expressed to AFP in mid-December that he was "very worried about what hangs over Julian’s head and which only increases the pressure," adding that “we live in fear that he will not hold up or that he will die outright during this judicial extradition process."
While appealing against his extradition to the US, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange suffered a stroke in Belmarsh Prison during a High Court appearance via video link, his fiancée Stella Moris said.
This comes after the US government overturned a block on the extradition of Assange from Britain to face trial for publishing top-secret documents exposing war crimes perpetrated by the US and its allies across the globe.
