Former whistleblower Jullian Assange said he 'pleaded guilty to journalism' to protect his freedom after being arrested for espionage.
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
01 October, 2024
'I eventually chose freedom over an unrealisable justice,' Assange said [GETTY]
Julian Assange, the founder of whistleblower media group WikiLeaks, told European lawmakers on Tuesday that his guilty plea to US espionage accusations was necessary because legal and political efforts to protect his freedom were insufficient.
"I eventually chose freedom over an unrealisable justice," Assange said in his first public comments since his release from prison, addressing a committee at the Council of Europe, the international body best known for its human rights convention.
Assange, 53, returned to his home country of Australia in June after a deal was struck for his release. He pleaded guilty to violating US espionage law in it, ending a 14-year British legal odyssey.
"I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism, pleaded guilty to seeking information from a source, I pleaded guilty to obtaining information from a source and I pleaded guilty to informing the public what that information was," he said.
WikiLeaks in 2010 released hundreds of thousands of classified US military documents on Washington's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the largest security breaches of their kind in US military history, along with swaths of diplomatic cables.
Assange was indicted years later under the Espionage Act.
A report by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concluded Assange was a political prisoner and called for Britain to hold an inquiry into whether he had been exposed to inhuman treatment.
Dressed in a black suit with a burgundy tie and a slight white beard, Assange sat between his wife, Stella, and WikiLeaks' editor, Kristinn Hrafnsson, reading his initial remarks from sheets of paper.
"I am yet not fully equipped to speak about what I have endured," he said, adding: "Isolation has taken its toll which I am trying to unwind."
Speaking freely during a subsequent question-and-answer session, Assange looked moved when he told lawmakers that the plea deal barred him from ever bringing a case to defend himself against the US's spying accusations.
"There will never be a hearing into what happened," he said.
His wife, whom he married while in a London jail, said last month he would need time to regain his health and sanity after his long incarceration.
When asked about his plans, Assange said the Strasbourg hearing, which aimed to raise awareness of the need to protect whistleblowers and informers, was "a first step."
He said that adapting to everyday life after years of imprisonment included some "tricky things", like learning to be a father to two children who grew up without him and "becoming a husband again, including with a mother-in-law," drawing some laughter from the crowd.
Assange was first arrested in Britain in 2010 on a European arrest warrant after Swedish authorities said they wanted to question him over sex-crime allegations that were later dropped. He fled to Ecuador's embassy, where he remained for seven years, to avoid extradition to Sweden.
In 2019, he was dragged out of the embassy and transferred to London's Belmarsh high-security jail for failing to pay bail.
(Reuters)
WikiLeaks founder Assange tells EU rights body he 'chose freedom over justice'
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has told the Council of Europe he was released after years of incarceration only because he pleaded guilty to doing 'journalism', warning that freedom of expression was now at a 'dark crossroads'.
Issued on: 01/10/2024
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and his wife Stella Assange raise their arms as they arrive at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, Tuesday, 1 October, 2024. AP - Pascal Bastien
By:RFI
Addressing the Council of Europe rights body at its Strasbourg headquarters – in his first public comments since his release in June – Assange said, "I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism."
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe had issued a report expressing alarm at Assange's treatment, saying it had a "chilling effect on human rights".
Julian Assange spent most of the last 14 years either holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid arrest, or locked up at Belmarsh Prison, south of London.
He was released under a plea bargain this summer, after serving a sentence for publishing hundreds of thousands of confidential US government documents.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has told the Council of Europe he was released after years of incarceration only because he pleaded guilty to doing 'journalism', warning that freedom of expression was now at a 'dark crossroads'.
Issued on: 01/10/2024
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and his wife Stella Assange raise their arms as they arrive at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, Tuesday, 1 October, 2024. AP - Pascal Bastien
By:RFI
Addressing the Council of Europe rights body at its Strasbourg headquarters – in his first public comments since his release in June – Assange said, "I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism."
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe had issued a report expressing alarm at Assange's treatment, saying it had a "chilling effect on human rights".
Julian Assange spent most of the last 14 years either holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid arrest, or locked up at Belmarsh Prison, south of London.
He was released under a plea bargain this summer, after serving a sentence for publishing hundreds of thousands of confidential US government documents.
The trove included searingly frank US State Department descriptions of foreign leaders, accounts of extrajudicial killings and intelligence gathering against allies.
Assange returned to Australia and since then had not publicly commented on his legal woes or his years behind bars.
Facing a potential 175-year sentence, "I eventually chose freedom over unrealisable justice ... Justice for me is now precluded," Assange said, referring to the conditions of his plea bargain.
Speaking calmly and flanked by his wife Stella, who fought for his release, he added,"Journalism is not a crime, it is a pillar of a free and informed society."
"The fundamental issue is simple. Journalists should not be prosecuted for doing their jobs," Assange said.
The WikiLeaks founder said that he could have lost years more of his life had he tried to fight his case all the way.
"Perhaps, ultimately, if it had gotten to the Supreme Court of the United States and I was still alive ... I might have won," Assange said in his address."
WikiLeaks founder Assange en-route to final US court hearing ahead of release
Assange case still divisive
Assange remains visibly affected by his experience, tiring towards the end of the session even as he thanked "all the people who have fought for my liberation".
Stella Assange told reporters after the committee hearing, "It was truly exceptional that he came here today ... He needs time to be able to recover".
"He's only been free for a few weeks and we're really just in the process of starting from zero ... or from less than zero," she added.
Asked what the next moves for WikiLeaks might be, the site's editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson told reporters Assange was "committed as ever to the basic principles that he's always abided by – transparency, justice, quality journalism".
Assange's case remains deeply contentious.
Supporters hail him as a champion of free speech and say he was persecuted by authorities and unfairly imprisoned.
Detractors see him as a reckless blogger whose uncensored publication of ultra-sensitive documents put lives at risk and jeopardised US security.
French parliament votes against handing asylum to Wikileaks founder Assange
Pardon campaign
Assange is still campaigning for a US presidential pardon for his conviction under the Espionage Act.
US President Joe Biden – who is likely to issue some pardons before leaving office next January – has previously described him as a "terrorist".
But Chelsea Manning, the army intelligence analyst who leaked documents to Assange, had her 35-year sentence commuted by President Barack Obama in 2017.
Assange's timing and his choice of venue for his first post-release appearance have puzzled some observers.
The Council of Europe brings together the 46 signatory states of the European Convention on Human Rights, with little say over Assange's legal fate.
Holly Cullen, a law professor at the University of Western Australia, told AFP ahead of the hearing that in criticising the United States, Assange might "need to be a bit more restrained until the pardon issue is resolved".
(with newswires)
Assange returned to Australia and since then had not publicly commented on his legal woes or his years behind bars.
Facing a potential 175-year sentence, "I eventually chose freedom over unrealisable justice ... Justice for me is now precluded," Assange said, referring to the conditions of his plea bargain.
Speaking calmly and flanked by his wife Stella, who fought for his release, he added,"Journalism is not a crime, it is a pillar of a free and informed society."
"The fundamental issue is simple. Journalists should not be prosecuted for doing their jobs," Assange said.
The WikiLeaks founder said that he could have lost years more of his life had he tried to fight his case all the way.
"Perhaps, ultimately, if it had gotten to the Supreme Court of the United States and I was still alive ... I might have won," Assange said in his address."
WikiLeaks founder Assange en-route to final US court hearing ahead of release
Assange case still divisive
Assange remains visibly affected by his experience, tiring towards the end of the session even as he thanked "all the people who have fought for my liberation".
Stella Assange told reporters after the committee hearing, "It was truly exceptional that he came here today ... He needs time to be able to recover".
"He's only been free for a few weeks and we're really just in the process of starting from zero ... or from less than zero," she added.
Asked what the next moves for WikiLeaks might be, the site's editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson told reporters Assange was "committed as ever to the basic principles that he's always abided by – transparency, justice, quality journalism".
Assange's case remains deeply contentious.
Supporters hail him as a champion of free speech and say he was persecuted by authorities and unfairly imprisoned.
Detractors see him as a reckless blogger whose uncensored publication of ultra-sensitive documents put lives at risk and jeopardised US security.
French parliament votes against handing asylum to Wikileaks founder Assange
Pardon campaign
Assange is still campaigning for a US presidential pardon for his conviction under the Espionage Act.
US President Joe Biden – who is likely to issue some pardons before leaving office next January – has previously described him as a "terrorist".
But Chelsea Manning, the army intelligence analyst who leaked documents to Assange, had her 35-year sentence commuted by President Barack Obama in 2017.
Assange's timing and his choice of venue for his first post-release appearance have puzzled some observers.
The Council of Europe brings together the 46 signatory states of the European Convention on Human Rights, with little say over Assange's legal fate.
Holly Cullen, a law professor at the University of Western Australia, told AFP ahead of the hearing that in criticising the United States, Assange might "need to be a bit more restrained until the pardon issue is resolved".
(with newswires)
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