WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange says he pleaded ‘guilty to journalism’ to be released

LONDON (AP) — In his first public remarks since his release from prison, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Tuesday he was released after years of incarceration because ‘I pleaded guilty to journalism’ .

“I am not free today because the system worked,” Assange said during his speech to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. He testified before the Parliamentary Assembly, which includes parliamentarians from 46 European countries, about his detention and conviction and their effects on human rights.

“I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism,” Assange said. “I pleaded guilty to seeking information from a source.”

Assange was released in June after five years in a British prison. He pleaded guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets as part of a deal with U.S. Justice Department prosecutors.

THIS IS A LATEST UPDATE. Earlier AP story follows below.

LONDON (AP) — Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will make his first public statements since his release from prison when he addresses the Council of Europe on Tuesday.

Assange, 53, is expected to testify before the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg, France.

The Parliamentary Assembly, which includes parliamentarians from 46 European countries, said the hearing would discuss Assange’s detention and conviction “and their chilling effect on human rights”, before a debate on the subject on Wednesday.

WikiLeaks said in a statement that Assange would attend the hearing in person “due to the exceptional nature of the invitation.”

Assange was released in June after five years in a British prison after pleading guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that concluded a long legal saga. Before his incarceration, he spent seven years in self-imposed exile at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he requested asylum on the grounds of political persecution.

The Australian internet publisher has been accused of receiving and publishing hundreds of thousands of war logs and diplomatic cables containing details of US military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. His activities were praised by press freedom advocates, who praised his role in shining a light on military behavior that might otherwise have been covered up.

Among the files released by WikiLeaks was video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by U.S. forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists.

But critics say her conduct endangered U.S. national security and innocent lives — such as those who provided information to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan — and went far beyond limits of traditional journalistic functions.

The years-long case ended with Assange’s plea in a U.S. District Court in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Pacific.

Assange pleaded guilty to conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information. A judge sentenced him to the five years he had already spent behind bars in the United Kingdom fighting extradition to the United States.

Assange returned to Australia a free man at the end of June. At the time, his wife, Stella, said he needed time to recover before speaking publicly.

His appearance Tuesday comes after the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe published a report into Assange’s detention in a high-security prison in the United Kingdom for five years.

The Assembly’s human rights committee said Assange was considered a political prisoner and issued a draft resolution expressing deep concern over his mistreatment.

Sylvia Hui, Associated Press