Julian Assange denies making asylum request
Paris
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has denied filing a request for asylum in France after revealing the existence of a child he has not seen for five years.
An open letter, written by Assange to Francois Hollande, the French president, was published in the French daily Le Monde.
In it the Wikileaks founder said that France could offer him "the necessary protection" against "political persecution".
A statement from the Hollande's office said France could not act on the "request" and noted that Assange is under a European arrest warrant and he was not in "immediate danger".
But Assange's legal team took issue with the characterisation of the letter as an asylum request, saying it should not be interpreted as such.
Defence team director Baltasar Garzon said in a statement that the open letter by Assange to Hollande, had only expressed his willingness “to be hosted in France if and only if an initiative was taken by the competent authorities”.
Garzon said the Australian’s defence team “wishes to state very clearly that Assange has filed no request for asylum in France”.
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