WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, said Tuesday he was freed after years in prison because he pleaded “guilty to journalism.” teleSUR
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00:00And in France, journalist Julian Assange affirmed before the Council of Europe in Strasbourg
00:05that if he is free, it is because he declared himself guilty of having done journalism.
00:10In his first statements after spending 12 years in the maximum security prison of Belmarsh
00:14in the United Kingdom, Assange pointed out that his agreement with the U.S. justice system
00:18prevents him from denouncing the country in relation to his extradition requests, as well
00:23as requesting information about the events that took place.
00:26The Wikileaks founder's statements came a day before the Assembly of Council of Europe
00:32votes on a resolution that doubts him as a political prisoner and warns about the deterrent
00:37effect that his arrest could have had on the journalistic profession.
00:45Ladies and gentlemen, the transition from years of confinement in a maximum security
00:51prison to being here before the representatives of 46 nations and 700 million people is a
00:58profound and a surreal shift.
01:03The experience of isolation for years in a small cell is difficult to convey.
01:09It strips away one's sense of self, leaving only the raw essence of existence.
01:16I am yet not fully equipped to speak about what I have endured, the relentless struggle
01:25to stay alive, both physically and mentally.
01:30In addition, Assange reaffirmed that his freedom does not imply that the system worked, since
01:34he had to plead guilty for the fact of doing journalism and denouncing U.S. war crimes.
01:41This, for me, is now precluded as the U.S. government insisted in writing into its plea
01:48agreement that I cannot file a case at the European Court of Human Rights or even a Freedom
01:54of Information Act request over what it did to me as a result of its expedition request.
02:01I want to be totally clear.
02:04I am not free today because the system worked.
02:08I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism.