Assange makes first comments since gaining freedom

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The rights of journalists and publishers in Europe are “seriously threatened” by “transnational repression,” WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said. “The criminalization of newsgathering activities is a threat to investigative journalism everywhere.”

Assange further stated: “I was formally convicted by a foreign power for soliciting, receiving and publishing truthful information about that power while in Europe. The fundamental issue is simple: journalists should not be prosecuted for doing their job. Journalism is not a crime; it is a pillar of a free and informed society.”

He urged the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to take action now to protect journalists, publishers and others from the attacks on freedom of expression that are creating a climate of censorship have fueled.

They were Assange’s first public comments about the US Justice Department’s prosecution since his release from London’s high-security Belmarsh prison, where he had been held for just over five years. The world had not heard him speak like this for at least six or seven years, and certainly not as a free man.

Assange was invited to speak to the PACE Commission as part of its investigation into his detention and conviction and the chilling effect this has had on human rights broadly. The next day, the committee planned to vote on whether to designate Assange a political prisoner.

The WikiLeaks founder defied justified paranoia or reservations that might have prevented him from leaving his home country of Australia. As Assange said in his statement (full transcript here): “The gravity of this event and the weight of the issues at hand” forced him to speak directly to parliamentarians.

On his left sat WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson and on his right was his wife Stella Assange. Their presence helped give him direction and put him at ease as he dealt with the nervousness exacerbated by more than a decade of trauma and intimidation by the rule of law (in addition to continued demonization in the Western press).

Assange wore glasses that accentuated the vulnerability of a former prisoner still in recovery. “The transition from years of incarceration in a maximum security prison to being here in front of the representatives of 46 countries and 700 million people is a profound and surreal shift. The experience of years of isolation in a small cell is difficult to convey. It strips one’s sense of self, leaving only the raw essence of existence.”

“I am not yet fully equipped to speak about what I endured, the brutal struggle to stay physically and mentally alive, nor can I speak about the deaths by hanging, murder and medical neglect of my fellow prisoners.”

Assange even avoided giving a detailed account of the horrors and tragedies he witnessed and personally survived at Belmarsh, even though they were relevant to the PACE Commission investigation.

Assange was honest and open about his vulnerability. “I apologize in advance if my words falter or if my presentation has the polish you would expect from such a reputable forum. The isolation has taken its toll, which I am trying to relax, and expressing myself in this setting is a challenge.”

I’m free because I ‘pleaded guilty to journalism’

As he gave a prepared statement, Assange repeatedly cleared his throat. It was as if the fear of the moment was weighing him down and he was battling reflux, which made it difficult for him to speak. Still, the reaction of parliamentarians at the meeting suggests that his statement had the impact he desired.

Assange’s statement addressed a range of issues familiar to anyone who closely followed his case (or regularly read this newsletter), but now he could speak for himself rather than through his lawyers.

Regarding the CIA’s war against WikiLeaks, Assange said: “We had the feeling that something was going on at that moment (in the Ecuadorian embassy in London). There were a lot of little signals coming together. But we had a sense of foreboding and some subtly worded tips from a whistleblower in one of the security companies the CIA had contracted did not provide a complete and disturbing picture, which later emerged.”

As he did when he pleaded guilty to violating the Espionage Act in a U.S. territorial court in the Northern Mariana Islands in June, Assange spoke about his conviction for journalistic activities.

“I am not free today because the system worked,” Assange declared. “I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism. I 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 of that information. I have not pleaded guilty to anything else.”

‘When I come out of Belmarsh’s dungeon, the truth seems less discernible now. And I lament how much ground was lost during that period, how the expression of truth was undermined, attacked, weakened and diminished. I see more impunity, more secrecy, more retaliation for telling the truth, and more self-censorship.”

“It’s hard not to draw a line from the US government’s persecution of me – it crosses the Rubicon from criminalizing journalism internationally to the chilled climate for freedom of expression that now exists.”

‘Now there are live-streamed horrors every day’

After Assange completed his statement, lawmakers asked him questions, and several of them seemed quite supportive, if not sympathetic, to his plight. He was much more relaxed, and his answers to their questions were fluent and detailed, showing that he is still able to speak in a room of esteemed individuals. He even demonstrated that his sense of humor was intact when he made a joke about his mother-in-law that made parliamentarians laugh.

The Israeli army, with the full support of the US government, invaded Lebanon hours before Assange’s testimony. He demonstrated a keen awareness of the global issues of peace and human rights that are currently the focus of PACE and similar meetings around the world.

Assange said: “Where (WikiLeaks) once published major war crimes videos that fueled public debate, there are now live streams every day of the horrors of the war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza. Hundreds of journalists have been killed in Gaza and Ukraine combined. Impunity seems to be increasing and it is still uncertain what we can do about it.”

Particularly as the PACE Commission has expressed interest in using the dangerous application of the Espionage Act to punish him, Assange spoke during his appeal about what became clear in the final months of the case.

“In my case, the US government has taken a dangerous new global legal position: only US citizens have the right to free speech. Europeans and other nationalities do not have the right to freedom of expression. But the US claims that the Espionage Act still applies to them no matter where they are.”

‘So Europeans in Europe must obey the US secrecy law, without any defense, as far as the US government is concerned. An American in Paris might be able to talk about what the American government is planning. But for a Frenchman in Paris it is. That is also a crime without defense, and he can be extradited like me,” Assange added.

Attention was paid to the role of Britain, a PACE member state, in his prosecution. “There was an attempt to extradite me from Sweden to the United Kingdom without any charges. The UK government subsequently changed the law to prevent extradition without charge, but in its change to extradition legislation it included a clause to ensure it did not apply to me.”

‘Journalists must be activists for the truth’

Regarding the support of news media publications, journalists’ unions and freedom of expression organizations, Assange said: “Many of them followed their geopolitical alignment. So it was easy to gain support from media organizations in neutral states and states clearly hostile to the United States. Allies of the United States took longer.”

“Media organizations in the United States, the journalists there – not the lawyers, but the journalists – took even longer. It is a concern, and I see a similar phenomenon happening with the journalists being murdered in Gaza and Ukraine. and the geopolitical alignment of media organizations ensures that they do not cover these victims or only cover certain victims. This is a violation of journalistic solidarity.’

“We all have to stick together to hold the line. A journalist who is censored anywhere spreads censorship that can affect us all. Likewise, journalists who are murdered or targeted by intelligence agencies need our strong engagement, both in writing and on air.”

Assange then addressed the persistent idea that journalists should not be activists and should remain neutral.

“I understand that discussion. I have tried to be extremely accurate in my work. I believe accuracy is everything. Primary sources are everything. But there is one area where I am an activist, and all journalists should be an activist,” Assange said. “Journalists must be activists for the truth. Journalists must be activists when it comes to the ability to convey the truth, and that means standing up for each other and making no excuses for it.”

Assange, as he noted, testified before the same meeting that produced a report on the CIA’s secret detention centers in Europe and renditions and torture that violated human rights and international law.

His presence before this group of European parliamentarians, who gave him a standing ovation, made it even clearer that his freedom represented a defeat for the US national security state, which failed to obtain his extradition. The meeting offered a glimpse of the potential for European leaders to abandon the respect they routinely show for the U.S. government when they put American interests above peace, justice and freedom.

For 50 minutes, Assange smoothly answered questions before feeling exhausted and the committee chairman told him he could end his testimony with a few closing remarks.

“I would like to thank all the people who fought for my liberation and who, most importantly, understood that my liberation came with their own liberation. That the fundamental freedoms that sustain us all must be fought for, and that if one of us falls through the cracks fast enough, those cracks will widen and bring down the rest of us,” Assange concluded.

Below you will find a video of Julian Assange’s full testimony and his answers to European parliamentarians.