PACE Autumn Session | Debate on the Detention and Conviction of Julian Assange

October 2, 2024Leave a comment

PACE debate recorded the day after the first public statement of Julian Assange since his release from Belmarsh prison.

More information below the video [edited for start time]. Aired Oct. 2nd 2024:

Julian Assange, accompanied by his wife Stella, took part in a parliamentary hearing on his detention and conviction – and their chilling effect on human rights – on 1 October 2024 ahead of a full plenary debate on this topic by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) due the following day.

In his first public remarks since his release from detention at Belmarsh Prison in the UK four months ago, Mr Assange told parliamentarians: “I want to be totally clear. I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today because after years of incarceration I pleaded guilty to journalism. I pleaded guilty to seeking information from a source, and I pleaded guilty to informing the public what that information was.”

He added: “It’s good to be back. It’s good to be amongst people who – as we say in Australia – who give a damn. It’s good to be amongst friends.”

The hearing was organised by the Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights in the framework of a report on this topic by Thorhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC). Wikileaks Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson also took part.

In a recent draft resolution, based on Ms. Ævarsdóttir’s report, the committee expressed deep concern at Mr. Assange’s harsh treatment, warned of its “chilling effect” and called on the United States, a Council of Europe observer state, to investigate the alleged war crimes and human rights violations disclosed by him and Wikileaks.

The committee also said it considers that the “disproportionately severe charges” brought against him by the US authorities, as well as the heavy penalties foreseen under the Espionage Act for engaging in acts of journalism, fall within the requirements set out in a 2012 Assembly resolution on the definition of a political prisoner.

On Wednesday 2 October, the Assembly – which brings together parliamentarians from the 46 Council of Europe member states – will debate and vote on the committee’s draft resolution. Mr. Assange is expected to be present in the public gallery to watch the debate.

Courtesy of Consortium News, Creative Commons Attribution.

PACE hearing on Julian Assange’s detention and conviction and their chilling effects on human rights | w/transcript

October 1, 2024October 2, 2024Leave a comment

Watch the testimony given by Julian Assange to a parliamentary hearing of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg – the first time he has spoken publicly since his release.

On Wednesday 2 October, the Assembly is due to hold a plenary debate and vote on his detention and conviction – and its chilling effects on human rights – based on a report by Thorhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC). Mr. Assange is expected to be watching from the public gallery.

UPDATE: Read the testimony and QnA transcript from Julian’s appearance, courtesy of Consortium News: Assange: ‘My Naivete Was Believing in the Law’

JULIAN ASSANGE — IS FREE

July 3, 2024Leave a comment

Happy Birthday, Julian.

Free! pic.twitter.com/jgN9nj2WK4
— Stella Assange #FreeAssangeNOW (@Stella_Assange) July 3, 2024

The Re-Opening of the Swedish Assange Case Should Be Welcomed – Craig Murray

May 14, 2019

That the Swedish investigation into the rape allegation against Julian Assange is being re-opened is something that ought to be welcomed. The alternative would be for this accusation to hang unresolved over Julian’s head forever. The Swedish prosecutors now need finally, as my father used to say, either to piss or get off the pot. They need to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to charge or not.

There is no reason for delay. The Swedish police have had seven years to investigate this case and all the evidence has been gathered and all statements taken – the last being the interview of Julian Assange in the Ecuadorean Embassy in 2017. Hopefully to review the evidence and decide whether to charge will not now be a lengthy procedure. It is worth noting, contrary to much misreporting, Julian Assange has never been charged with anything in Sweden.

Source: The Re-Opening of the Swedish Assange Case Should Be Welcomed – Craig Murray

Assange to Extradition Court: ‘I Won’t Surrender to the US for Doing Journalism’ – Consortiumnews

May 2, 2019Leave a comment

Dressed in jeans, a dark jacket and a T-shirt, Assange appeared on a video screen inside a cramped courtroom in Westminster Magistrates Court in London. “I won’t surrender to the U.S. for doing journalism that has won many awards and protected lives,” Assange told the court, according to a tweet from a USA Today correspondent.