One Country Is Prepared to Offer Assange Asylum

That would be Mexico, according to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

By Kate Seamons, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 4, 2021 2:40 PM CST

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One Spot in North America Ready to Welcome Assange — This is a court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Julian Assange appearing at the Old Bailey in London for the ruling in his extradition case, in London, Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. (Elizabeth Cook/PA via AP)

Julian Assange won't be extradited to America, but he could be North America-bound. Reuters reports that in the wake of a British judge's rejection of a US request to extradite the WikiLeaks founder, Mexico announced it is ready to welcome Assange. "I’m going to ask the Foreign Minister ... to ask the government of the United Kingdom about the possibility of letting Mr. Assange be freed and for Mexico to offer political asylum," the country's president said Monday.

"Assange is a journalist and deserves a chance," President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador continued. "I am in favor of pardoning him." (Assange's supporters have called on President Trump to grant a pardon before he leaves office.) Bloomberg reports Assange's lawyers will be back in court for a Wednesday bail hearing in which they'll argue for his release. Lawyers for the US government plan to appeal the ruling; it could take years for the process to fully play out. (Read more Julian Assange stories.)