Emmanuel Macron wants to offer France’s protection to Marina Ovsyannilova who presented an anti-war sign on Russian television. But still not to Julian Assange, under threat of extradition to the United States.
The picture went around the world. Marina Ovsyannilova, a Russian-Ukrainian journalist held up a sign denouncing the war in Ukraine in the middle of the television news on March 14, 2022. Arrested, placed in custody, she was finally released. She was fined heavily.
In the wake of the emotion aroused by this case, President Macron wanted to offer the protection of France to this protester. “We will obviously launch diplomatic steps to offer protection, either at the embassy, or asylum protection” to Marina Ovsyannikova, said Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, March 15, during a visit to a center hosting Ukrainian refugees in Maine-et-Loire.
Everyone welcomed this generosity towards a young woman threatened with prison.
France strongly condemns any imprisonment of a journalist. We intervene so that Marina Ovsyannikova regains her freedom.
— Elysee (@Elysee) March 15, 2022
And Julian Assange?
We wish it was the same for Julian Assange, the whistleblower who has been imprisoned in London for years. Julian Assange is the Australian journalist, computer scientist, cyber activist and whistleblower who founded WikiLeaks and publishes highly sensitive documents. In particular, American diplomatic cables on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He published classified information on corruption, phone tapping of personalities (including French presidents) by the United States.
Incarcerated in London since 2019, he is held in very difficult conditions and under the threat of extradition to the United States where he faces 175 years in prison.
Emmanuel Macron has never offered France’s protection to Julian Assange, who lived in France from 2007 to 2010 where his wife and son still reside.
The National Assembly denied him political asylum on February 4, 2022 as recalled by The Media 442.
Not to displease America, no doubt. Human rights in France are variable geometry.