In his first speech since his release, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remarked on the precedent set by nations targeting foreign journalists and the erosion of free speech worldwide.
Speaking before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Assange recounted the U.S. government’s lengthy attempt to prosecute him for leaking classified information.
He detailed his complex legal journey that began when former President Obama closed an investigation into his actions, only for it to be reopened by the U.S. Attorney General, resulting in Chelsea Manning’s re-arrest.
Manning, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst, eventually provided testimony against Assange and faced significant legal pressures, including over a year of imprisonment and psychological distress, which led an attempted suicide.
“Manning was no longer just a whistleblower; she became a source forced to testify against the journalist,” Assange stated.
In December 2017, the United States issued a warrant to extradite Assange from the UK, a move that was kept secret for two years while both the United States and Ecuadorian governments worked behind the scenes to lay the political, legal, and diplomatic groundwork for his eventual arrest.
After 14 years of legal battle, Assange returned to Australia as a free man in June 2024.
In 2010, WikiLeaks’ release of a U.S. military video showing civilians being killed in Baghdad, along with thousands of confidential documents exposing unreported civilian deaths during the Afghanistan war, became central to his case.
These revelations sparked global outrage and brought significant scrutiny to American military actions in foreign conflicts.
Noting the broader implications of his case, Assange warned it could set a dangerous legal precedent.
“Only American citizens enjoy free speech rights under U.S. law, while citizens of other nations are still bound by U.S. secrecy laws,” he said.
This shift, he argued, has put European and other foreign journalists at risk of being extradited and prosecuted for reporting on U.S. government activities.
“Europeans must obey U.S. secrecy laws with no defence at all,” he said.
While describing his case as “transnational repression,” Assange warned Europe, where the war in Ukraine has already seen journalists criminalised in Russia.
Assange cautioned that without strong safeguards, other nations could also begin targeting foreign journalists and curbing press freedom.
He criticised the U.S. government’s efforts to undermine the role of investigative journalism.
“I was convicted by a foreign power for receiving and publishing truthful information while in Europe. Journalism is not a crime,” he said, warning that the criminalisation of news-gathering activities poses a global threat to press freedom.
In his closing remarks, Assange appealed to European nations to take action, stating, “If Europe is to have a future where the freedom to speak and publish the truth are not privileges but rights, it must ensure that what happened to me never happens again.”
“I did not plead guilty to anything but journalism. This was never just about me—it is about the right of every journalist to do their job without fear of retaliation.”
