A group of influential French public figures has urged President Francois Hollande and his government to grant asylum to US whistleblower Edward Snowden, reports The Courier.
The 50 signatories of a new petition, including a former prime minister, argue France has a "special obligation" towards Mr Snowden because its constitution guarantees asylum to those persecuted for their actions.
The petition on the Change.org website was organised by the weekly L'Express magazine and signatories include former Socialist prime minister Michel Rocard, Green MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Rony Brauman, the former president of Medecins sans Frontieres and Christophe Deloire, director general of Reporters Sans Frontieres.
Mr Snowden, who leaked documents regarding America's National Security Agency and Britain's GCHQ listening post, is in Russia, having been given asylum by Vladimir Putin and any move to allow him to live across the Channel would probably strain relations with France's UK and US allies.
Christophe Barbier, chief editor of L'Express, said: "We need to help him escape the logical but unfair punishment he's expected to get in the US, but also to get out of the hospitality Putin offered him with hidden agendas.
"Because France has always shown its independence from the United States and Russia, because France is the homeland of freedom of expression, France should welcome Snowden, offer him political asylum, and later, perhaps, a new nationality."
Read more of this Press Association report published by The Courier.
The petition can be seen - and signed - here.