STRASBOURG, France — Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said on Tuesday he was released after years of incarceration only because he pleaded guilty to doing 'journalism,' warning that freedom of expression was now at a 'dark crossroads.'
'I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism,' Assange told the Council of Europe rights body at its headquarters in the eastern French city of Strasbourg in his first public comments since his release.
SPEAKING OUT WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange waves as he arrives to attend a parliamentary hearing at the Council of Europe in the city of Strasbourg, eastern France, on Oct. 1, 2024. AFP PHOTO