In his first public statement since the plea deal in June ended his nearly 14 years of prison, embassy confinement and house arrest in the UK, the WikiLeaks founder argued that legal protections for whistleblowers and journalists "only existed on paper".
"I eventually chose freedom over unrealisable justice, after being detained for years and facing a 175year sentence with no effective remedy," he told lawmakers in Strasbourg at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Pace), the human rights body with members ranging from Iceland to Azerbaijan.
"I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism," he continued.
"The rights of journalists and publishers within the European space are seriously threatened," he told Pace's committee on legal affairs and human rights, urging the assembly to act. "The criminalisation of news-gathering activities is a threat to investigative journalism everywhere."
Denne historien er fra October 02, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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Denne historien er fra October 02, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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City win 'will clear minds and souls,' says Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has said Manchester City's return to winning ways will \"clear our minds and souls\" as he insisted the Premier League champions will get back to their best after a welcome 2-0 victory at Leicester.
Haaland's bundle of joy gives Guardiola timely lift
It was not without the kind of faults that have become the norm of late, but Pep Guardiola finally rebooted his winning Manchester City machine in his 500th match in charge.
Liverpool's high five Slot shrugs off transfer talk as Reds go eight points clear
Arne Slot has said the January transfer window will not become a distraction from Liverpool's fine run of form or cause a loss of control in his relationship with his players.
Salah stars again as Liverpool rout hapless Hammers
With 54 minutes gone at London Stadium, Trent Alexander-Arnold took a pass from Ryan Gravenberch with time to wait and look up, the lack of pressure from the West Ham players almost a public snub, before spanking a deflected shot past Alphonse Areola to make it 4-0 to Liverpool and kill off once again a game that was already long since dead.
Eze seals comeback to leave Saints stranded
When Aaron Ramsdale swapped warming the bench at Arsenal for a relegation battle with Southampton, even the England goalkeeper couldn't have imagined it would be this bad.
Gibbs-White profits off 'farcical' Everton as Forest go second
Nottingham Forest continue their remarkable ascent under Nuno Espirito Santo. A club that was one place above the relegation zone when Nuno arrived 12 months ago climbed to second in the Premier League with a comfortable win against Everton.
Strand Larsen's late strike piles pain on Postecoglou
For Tottenham, a home game against relegation-threatened opposition ought to mean only one thing. Instead, there was a sense of foreboding before and during plenty of this one.
Iraola delighted by 'perfect' Ouattara strike
Andoni Iraola lauded Dango Ouattara's impact off the bench as he came on to score an 89th-minute equaliser in Bournemouth's draw with Fulham.
Wilder defiant after Grant levels and Blades falter again
When does a stutter become a stumble? After a first home defeat of the season against Burnley on Boxing Day, the Championship high-flyers Sheffield United dropped two more home points against managerless West Brom.
'Staying was easy. Manchester just feels like home'
Kerstin Casparij on her new City contract, Gareth Taylor's obsessive levels of detail and her excitement for Euro 2025
