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  5. Julian Assange Speaks Out After Pleading Guilty to Journalism Charge in Plea Deal with US

Julian Assange Speaks Out After Pleading Guilty to Journalism Charge in Plea Deal with US

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Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has made several public statements since his release from prison and return to Australia. He has stated that he is free today because he pleaded guilty to conducting journalism, rather than because the system worked in his favor. Assange has criticized the United States and its allies for their handling of his case, which he believes set a dangerous precedent for the imprisonment of journalists and whistleblowers. He has also urged lawmakers to act to protect freedom of expression in a climate with increasing impunity. Assange has described the transition from years of confinement to addressing the European parliamentarians as a "profound and surreal shift". Assange has also highlighted the need for legal protections for whistleblowers and journalists, stating that such protections "only existed on paper".

  1. AU
    Julian Assange
    WikiLeaks
    1. The fundamental issue is simple. Journalists should not be prosecuted for doing their jobs.
    2. Let us all commit to doing our part to ensure the light of freedom never dims and the pursuit of truth will live on and the voices of many are not silenced by the interests of the few.
    3. Journalism is not a crime, it is a pillar of a free and informed society.
    4. Freedom of expression and all that flows from it is at a dark crossroads.
    5. Justice for me is now precluded because the US government insisted … that I cannot file in the European Court of Human Rights or a Freedom of Information request.
    6. But in the meantime I had lost 14 years under house arrest, embassy, siege, and maximum security prison.
    7. I want to be totally clear: I am not free today because the system worked.
    8. I eventually chose freedom over unrealisable justice, after being detained for years and facing a 175-year sentence with no effective remedy.
    9. If I am free, it is because 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 pled guilty to nothing else.
    10. I eventually chose freedom over unrealisable justice after being detained for years…. With no effective remedy.
    11. I was formally convicted by a foreign power for asking for receiving and publishing truthful information about that power, while I was in Europe.
    12. I have come a long way to be here, literally and figuratively.
    13. Perhaps, ultimately, if it had gotten to the Supreme Court of the United States and I was still alive... I might have won.
    14. If there is a future in Europe today in which the freedom to speak and publish the truth is not the privilege of a few, but the right of all, they must act so that what happened in my case never happens to anyone again.
    15. 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.
    16. I have lost 14 years of my life.
    17. A journalist should not be persecuted for doing his job, journalism is not a crime, it is a pillar of a free and informed society.
    18. I eventually chose freedom over unrealisable justice... Justice for me is now precluded.
    19. I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism.
    20. The criminalisation of news-gathering activities is a threat to investigative journalism everywhere. I was formally convicted by a foreign power for asking for, receiving and publishing truthful information about that power while I was in Europe.
    21. The rights of journalists and publishers within the European space are seriously threatened.
  2. AU
    Stella Assange
    1. 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.
    2. It was truly exceptional that he came here today... He needs time to be able to recover.

Wikileaks

  1. US and WikiLeaks Reach Plea Deal for Julian Assange's Espionage Charge
  2. US considering Australian request to drop charges against Julian Assange
  3. Julian Assange granted permission to appeal against extradition to US

sources

  1. 1.ABC News (Australia)
  2. 2.The New York Times
  3. 3.France 24
  4. 4.The Guardian
  5. 5.CNN
  6. 6.El Paìs
  7. 7.The Times of India
  8. 8.ABC News
  9. 9.Agence France-Presse
  10. 10.El Pais
  11. 11.Guardian
  12. 12.Reuters

perspectives

  1. 1.US Foreign Policy
  2. 2.Russian Foreign Policy
  3. 3.Espionage
  4. 4.Freedom of Speech
  5. 5.Freedom of the press
  6. 6.War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
  7. 7.Whistleblowing

countries

  1. 1.AfghanistanAF
  2. 2.AustraliaAU
  3. 3.AzerbaijanAZ
  4. 4.EcuadorEC
  5. 5.FranceFR
  6. 6.United KingdomGB
  7. 7.IraqIQ
  8. 8.IcelandIS
  9. 9.Russian FederationRU
  10. 10.SwedenSE
  11. 11.United StatesUS

organizations

  1. 1.Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
  2. 2.Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
  3. 3.European Court of Human Rights
  4. 4.US Department of JusticeUS
  5. 5.Central Intelligence AgencyUS
  6. 6.Democratic National CommitteeUS
  7. 7.EU Council
  8. 8.Parliamentary Assembly
  9. 9.University of Western Australia
  10. 10.US State DepartmentUS
  11. 11.US Supreme CourtUS
  12. 12.White HouseUS

persons

  1. 1.Julian AssangeAU
  2. 2.Stella AssangeAU
  3. 3.Chelsea Manning
  4. 4.Kristinn Hrafnsson
  5. 5.Barack ObamaUS
  6. 6.Jenny Gross
  7. 7.Mazoe Ford
  8. 8.Megan Specia
  9. 9.Donald TrumpUS
  10. 10.Hillary Clinton
  11. 11.Holly Cullen
  12. 12.Joe BidenUS

technicals

  1. 1.WikiLeaks
  2. 2.Espionage Act of 1917
  3. 3.Pacific Ocean
  4. 4.Freedom of Information Act
  5. 5.European Convention on Human Rights
  6. 6.First Amendment