Assange Makes First Public Comments Since Release

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Facts

  • WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday made his first public comments since being released from a British prison earlier in the year.[1]
  • The 53-year-old journalist had been incarcerated for five years as he and his legal team fought extradition to the US, where he was wanted on 17 Espionage Act charges for government documents he and his organization published in 2010.[2][3]
  • Ultimately, he was released in June after reaching a plea agreement with the US Justice Department in which he pleaded guilty to a single charge under the Espionage Act for conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information, allowing him to go free for time served in the UK.[4]
  • Speaking to the legal affairs and human rights committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, France, Assange said: 'I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism.'[2]
  • 'I pled guilty to seeking information from a source,' he added. 'I pled guilty to obtaining information from a source, and I pled guilty to informing the public what that information was. I did not plead guilty to anything else.'[1]
  • The remarks come as PACE published a report and statement that criticized what it deemed 'the disproportionately harsh treatment' he faced.[5]

Sources: [1]York Press, [2]Associated Press, [3]Newsweek, [4]Doughty Street Chambers and [5]PACE.

Narratives

  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by PACE. Assange's publications revealed war crimes, torture, and human rights abuses. Rather than pursue the perpetrators of these crimes, the US went after the whistleblower and journalist, having a chilling effect on journalism and creating a perception that the US is more interested in covering up wrongdoing than seeking justice.
  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by PBS News. By indiscriminately publishing classified US documents that included unredacted names of government sources, Assange put hundreds of people's lives at risk. His action went way beyond traditional journalism, and it was right that he faced the charges that he did.