France rejects Julian Assange's asylum request

The French government has rejected an asylum request from Julian Assange, saying he is “not in immediate danger” while holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in west London.

The WikiLeaks founder wrote an open letter to François Hollande urging the French government to grant him refugee status, even though such a move would offer him no realistic chance of freedom.

In a statement issued by the Élysée palace, the president said: “France cannot act on his request. The situation of Mr Assange does not present an immediate danger.”

Assange could make no practical use of asylum status in France because he would be arrested if he tried to leave the Ecuadorian embassy where he has been residing for more than three years to avoid extradition to Sweden.

Swedish prosecutors have been trying since 2010 to question Assange about allegations of rape and sexual molestation. Assange denies the claims.

Prominent French figures, including footballer Eric Cantona, and bestselling economist Thomas Piketty, appealed for France to grant Assange haven. But Hollande rejected the plea, pointing out that Assange remained subject to aEuropean arrest warrant.

In his letter to the president, published in Le Monde newspaper, Assange described himself as a “journalist pursued and threatened with death by the United States authorities as a result of my professional activities”.

Assange, who turned 44 on Friday, fears extradition to Sweden could lead to him being transferred to the US to face trial over WikiLeaks’ publication of classified US military and diplomatic cables published in the Guardian.

Last month, the Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny cancelled an appointment to interview Assange at the embassy. She said the meeting would have to be called off because she had not received official permission from Ecuador to enter its London headquarters.

Lawyers for Assange claimed a victory in March after Ny caved in to pressure from the courts and agreed to break the deadlock in the case by interviewing him in London. Ny’s formal request to interrogate the WikiLeaks founder in the Ecuadorian embassy was the first sign of movement in a case that has been frozen since August 2012.