Mexican President offers political asylum to Assange

Mexico City: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday he would grant WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange political asylum if the United Kingdom freed him from jail.

“I am going to ask the foreign minister to prepare documents and ask that the UK frees Mr. Assange to offer him political asylum,” he said at a news conference here.

The President praised the UK court for rejecting the United States’ request for Assange’s extradition and termed it a “triumph of justice”. The judge cited concerns for Assange’s mental health, which was likely to deteriorate had he been moved to a top security US prison.