Skip to main content
Gifts from The Morning Star
Wikileaks founder Assange says he was freed after he ‘pleaded guilty to journalism’
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange (centre), his wife Stella Assange (right), and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks Kristinn Hrafnsson, raise their fists as they arrive at the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg, eastern France, October 1, 2024

WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange said today that he was freed after five years of incarceration because he had “pleaded guilty to journalism.”

Mr Assange, making his first public remarks since his release from Belmarsh prison in south-east London, gave evidence of the impact of his detention and conviction to the legal affairs and human rights committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. 

He was freed in June after pleading guilty to obtaining and publishing US military secrets in a deal with US Justice Department prosecutors. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Professional firefighters march through Lisbon towards the P
World / 2 October 2024
2 October 2024
Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his speech and press conf
Features / 11 September 2024
11 September 2024
As Western liberal democracies crack down on journalists and activists, CLAUDIA WEBBE urges resistance against the Labour government’s part in this slide towards Saudi-style repression