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“I Chose Freedom Over Justice”: Julian Assange Addresses Public for First Time Since Prison Release

HeadlineOct 01, 2024

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe today in his first public remarks since he was released from a London prison in June after pleading guilty to a U.S. charge of obtaining and disclosing national security material.

Julian Assange: “I eventually chose freedom over unrealizable justice after being detained for years and facing a 175-year sentence with no effective remedy. Justice for me is now precluded, as the U.S. government insisted in writing into its plea agreement that I cannot file a case at the European Court of Human Rights or even a Freedom of Information Act request over what it did to me as a result of its extradition request. 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.”

Tomorrow, European lawmakers will vote on a resolution focused on the political and “chilling” nature of Assange’s imprisonment. A draft resolution from the European body also called on the U.S. to investigate the war crimes and human rights abuses revealed by WikiLeaks.

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