Mobile  |  About us  |  Photos  |  Videos  |  Subscriptions  |  RSS Feeds  |  Today's Paper  |  Classifieds  |  Contact Us
Advanced Search
The Daily Star
MONDAY, 20 MAY 2013
06:22 PM Beirut time
Weather    
Beirut
24 °C
Blom Index
BLOM
1,206.1down
International
Follow this story Print Email this RSS Feed ePaper share this
German left-wing MP visits Assange at Ecuador embassy
Agence France Presse
German politician of Turkish origin and a member of the Left Party (die Linkspartei), Sevim Dagdelen is photographed outside of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on September 2, 2012. Dagdelen is at the embassy to hold a meeting with Australian Wikileaks founder Julian Assange who has claimed asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy. AFP PHOTO / ANDREW COWIE
German politician of Turkish origin and a member of the Left Party (die Linkspartei), Sevim Dagdelen is photographed outside of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on September 2, 2012. Dagdelen is at the embassy to hold a meeting with Australian Wikileaks founder Julian Assange who has claimed asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy. AFP PHOTO / ANDREW COWIE
A+ A-

LONDON: German far-left MP Sevim Dagdelen on Sunday visited Julian Asange, who has been holed up at Ecuador's embassy in London since June, and afterwards expressed her solidarity with the Wikileaks founder.

"I have sent solidarity regards to Julian Assange from the left in Germany and the online community in Germany," said Dagdelen in a statement issued after the visit.

"We, as peace- and freedom-loving people in Germany and around the world, are greatly indebted to Mr Assange.

"He helped to uncover the war crimes in Iraq and in Afghanistan. He showed us how dirty and bloody these wars were and are, and how much we have been fooled by our governments."

Dagdelen, a member of the party Die Linke who sits on the foreign affairs committee in the lower house, wants to help find a solution to the diplomatic standoff around Assange's asylum request.

"Mr Assange was very pleased about my visit. I am amazed that I am the first MP to visit him," she added.

"I would like more of my colleagues from other countries to come over to London and seek a humanitarian solution to this crisis. We as parliamentarians should demand that our governments act.

"Unfortunately, the German government has taken no action to find a solution. I have informed Mr Assange about this deplorable fact."

Britain has said that Assange will be arrested if he sets foot outside the embassy and extradited to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sex crimes under the terms of a European arrest warrant.

WikiLeaks angered Washington by releasing tens of thousands of classified files about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as US diplomatic cables which gave often unflattering views of world leaders.

Assange has said he fears that if he is forced to go to Sweden he will eventually be extradited to the United States for prosecution over the leaking of classified US documents.

Dagdelen added: "Extraditing Mr Assange to Sweden, which would probably involve him being taken into custody, would trigger a chain of events that would hamper pre-emptive measures to stop him being extradited to other countries, specifically the US, where Mr Assange faces long-term imprisonment or possibly even the death penalty.

"Under international law, if someone faces extradition to a country where they are in danger of being sentenced to death for their political work, there is no question that this constitutes undisputed grounds for granting refugee status."

The German lawmaker added that she would seek meetings with British and Swedish diplomats in Berlin, in an attempt to find a solution to the standoff.

Ecuador, which has granted Assange diplomatic asylum, was angered by what it saw as Britain's threat to enter the embassy and arrest Assange.

London insisted it never threatened to enter the building and merely made Ecuador aware of the existence of a law which would allow it to do so.

 
Home International
 
     
 
Ecuador
Advertisement
Around the Web
Comments  

Your feedback is important to us!

We invite all our readers to share with us their views and comments about this article.

Disclaimer: Comments submitted by third parties on this site are the sole responsibility of the individual(s) whose content is submitted. The Daily Star accepts no responsibility for the content of comment(s), including, without limitation, any error, omission or inaccuracy therein. Please note that your email address will NOT appear on the site.

comments powered by Disqus
Advertisement
Most Popular
Viewed Searched e-mailed
1. Assad, Hezbollah forces advance into Qusair
 
2. Regime in biggest push yet for strategic city
 
3. Thirty Hezbollah fighters killed in Syrian town: activists
 
4. Clashes renew in n. Lebanon, soldier killed
 
5. Tripoli fighting leaves one dead, several wounded
 
6. Situation in Syria against U.S., Israel: Hezbollah
Advertisement
Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Linked In Follow us on Google+ Subscribe to our Live Feed
Multimedia
Images  
Pictures of the day
A selection of images from around the world- Sunday May 19, 2013
View all view all
Advertisement
Rami G. Khouri
Rami G. Khouri
Palestine splits Arab street and state
Michael Young
Michael Young
Washington blunders yet again in Syria
David Ignatius
David Ignatius
The Benghazi emails expose Washington’s dysfunctions
View all view all
Advertisement
cartoon
 
Click to View Articles
 
 
News
Business
Opinion
Sports
Culture
Technology
Entertainment
Privacy Policy | Anti-Spamming Policy | Disclaimer | Copyright Notice
© 2013 The Daily Star - All Rights Reserved - Designed and Developed By IDS