٠٠:٠٧:٢٣Mandatory credit: PACE
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange claimed he was 'not free because the system worked' but because he 'pled guilty to journalism', during a hearing of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
"I want to be totally clear. I am not free today, because the system worked. I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism. I pled guilty to seeking information from a source. I pled guilty to obtaining information from a source. And I pled guilty to informing the public what that information was. I did not plead guilty to anything else," he claimed.
It marked his first public appearance since his release from prison in the UK and return to Australia, following a US plea deal in June.
"The fundamental issue is simple. Journalists should not be prosecuted for doing their jobs. Journalism is not a crime. It is a pillar of a free and informed society," he said to a round of applause from the room. "If Europe is to have a future where the freedom to speak and the freedom to publish the truth are not privileges enjoyed by a few, but rights guaranteed to all, then it must act so that what has happened in my case never happens to anyone else."
Assange also made reference to previous claims that the CIA had targeted his family.
"Under [former Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo's explicit direction the CIA drew up plans to kidnap and to assassinate me within the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and authorise going after my European colleagues, subjecting us to theft, hacking attacks and the planting of false information," he alleged. "My wife and my infant son were also targeted. A CIA asset was permanently assigned to track my wife and instructions were given to obtain DNA from my six-month-old son's nappy."
He did not put any new evidence for the claims into the public domain. Similar claims were made in a 2021 news report based on unnamed sources, alleging that CIA and government officials had requested 'sketches' or 'options' on how to kill Assange, while the agency and Pompeo himself have not commented.
Assange also spoke of his own incarceration in Belmarsh prison in the UK.
"The experience of isolation for years in a small cell is difficult to convey. It strips away one's sense of self, leaving only the raw essence of existence. I am yet not fully equipped to speak about what I have endured, the relentless struggle to stay alive, both physically and mentally, nor can I speak to yet about the deaths by hanging, murder and medical neglect of my fellow prisoners," he alleged. He provided no further details and the prison has not commented at time of publication.
The committee has previously criticised Assange's treatment and called for the US to investigate revelations about alleged war crimes and human rights violations highlighted by the WikiLeaks organisation. A debate will take place on Wednesday.
Assange spent five years in Belmarsh, fighting extradition to the US, after being dragged from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London following a seven-year standoff.
He was wanted in the US on 18 charges related to the release of classified documents involving the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and plead guilty to a single charge of espionage at a hearing in the Northern Mariana islands. He was sentenced to time served in Belmarsh and allowed to return home.
'I'm not free today because the system worked, I am free because I pled guilty to journalism' - Assange at PACE hearing
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange claimed he was 'not free because the system worked' but because he 'pled guilty to journalism', during a hearing of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
"I want to be totally clear. I am not free today, because the system worked. I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism. I pled guilty to seeking information from a source. I pled guilty to obtaining information from a source. And I pled guilty to informing the public what that information was. I did not plead guilty to anything else," he claimed.
It marked his first public appearance since his release from prison in the UK and return to Australia, following a US plea deal in June.
"The fundamental issue is simple. Journalists should not be prosecuted for doing their jobs. Journalism is not a crime. It is a pillar of a free and informed society," he said to a round of applause from the room. "If Europe is to have a future where the freedom to speak and the freedom to publish the truth are not privileges enjoyed by a few, but rights guaranteed to all, then it must act so that what has happened in my case never happens to anyone else."
Assange also made reference to previous claims that the CIA had targeted his family.
"Under [former Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo's explicit direction the CIA drew up plans to kidnap and to assassinate me within the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and authorise going after my European colleagues, subjecting us to theft, hacking attacks and the planting of false information," he alleged. "My wife and my infant son were also targeted. A CIA asset was permanently assigned to track my wife and instructions were given to obtain DNA from my six-month-old son's nappy."
He did not put any new evidence for the claims into the public domain. Similar claims were made in a 2021 news report based on unnamed sources, alleging that CIA and government officials had requested 'sketches' or 'options' on how to kill Assange, while the agency and Pompeo himself have not commented.
Assange also spoke of his own incarceration in Belmarsh prison in the UK.
"The experience of isolation for years in a small cell is difficult to convey. It strips away one's sense of self, leaving only the raw essence of existence. I am yet not fully equipped to speak about what I have endured, the relentless struggle to stay alive, both physically and mentally, nor can I speak to yet about the deaths by hanging, murder and medical neglect of my fellow prisoners," he alleged. He provided no further details and the prison has not commented at time of publication.
The committee has previously criticised Assange's treatment and called for the US to investigate revelations about alleged war crimes and human rights violations highlighted by the WikiLeaks organisation. A debate will take place on Wednesday.
Assange spent five years in Belmarsh, fighting extradition to the US, after being dragged from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London following a seven-year standoff.
He was wanted in the US on 18 charges related to the release of classified documents involving the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and plead guilty to a single charge of espionage at a hearing in the Northern Mariana islands. He was sentenced to time served in Belmarsh and allowed to return home.
Mandatory credit: PACE
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange claimed he was 'not free because the system worked' but because he 'pled guilty to journalism', during a hearing of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
"I want to be totally clear. I am not free today, because the system worked. I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism. I pled guilty to seeking information from a source. I pled guilty to obtaining information from a source. And I pled guilty to informing the public what that information was. I did not plead guilty to anything else," he claimed.
It marked his first public appearance since his release from prison in the UK and return to Australia, following a US plea deal in June.
"The fundamental issue is simple. Journalists should not be prosecuted for doing their jobs. Journalism is not a crime. It is a pillar of a free and informed society," he said to a round of applause from the room. "If Europe is to have a future where the freedom to speak and the freedom to publish the truth are not privileges enjoyed by a few, but rights guaranteed to all, then it must act so that what has happened in my case never happens to anyone else."
Assange also made reference to previous claims that the CIA had targeted his family.
"Under [former Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo's explicit direction the CIA drew up plans to kidnap and to assassinate me within the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and authorise going after my European colleagues, subjecting us to theft, hacking attacks and the planting of false information," he alleged. "My wife and my infant son were also targeted. A CIA asset was permanently assigned to track my wife and instructions were given to obtain DNA from my six-month-old son's nappy."
He did not put any new evidence for the claims into the public domain. Similar claims were made in a 2021 news report based on unnamed sources, alleging that CIA and government officials had requested 'sketches' or 'options' on how to kill Assange, while the agency and Pompeo himself have not commented.
Assange also spoke of his own incarceration in Belmarsh prison in the UK.
"The experience of isolation for years in a small cell is difficult to convey. It strips away one's sense of self, leaving only the raw essence of existence. I am yet not fully equipped to speak about what I have endured, the relentless struggle to stay alive, both physically and mentally, nor can I speak to yet about the deaths by hanging, murder and medical neglect of my fellow prisoners," he alleged. He provided no further details and the prison has not commented at time of publication.
The committee has previously criticised Assange's treatment and called for the US to investigate revelations about alleged war crimes and human rights violations highlighted by the WikiLeaks organisation. A debate will take place on Wednesday.
Assange spent five years in Belmarsh, fighting extradition to the US, after being dragged from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London following a seven-year standoff.
He was wanted in the US on 18 charges related to the release of classified documents involving the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and plead guilty to a single charge of espionage at a hearing in the Northern Mariana islands. He was sentenced to time served in Belmarsh and allowed to return home.