Julian Assange unveils guilty plea to win his freedom

WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, said Tuesday he was freed after years in prison because he pleaded “guilty to journalism.” teleSUR

Transcript

00:00And in France, journalist Julian Assange affirmed before the Council of Europe in Strasbourg

00:05that if he is free, it is because he declared himself guilty of having done journalism.

00:10In his first statements after spending 12 years in the maximum security prison of Belmarsh

00:14in the United Kingdom, Assange pointed out that his agreement with the U.S. justice system

00:18prevents him from denouncing the country in relation to his extradition requests, as well

00:23as requesting information about the events that took place.

00:26The Wikileaks founder's statements came a day before the Assembly of Council of Europe

00:32votes on a resolution that doubts him as a political prisoner and warns about the deterrent

00:37effect that his arrest could have had on the journalistic profession.

00:45Ladies and gentlemen, the transition from years of confinement in a maximum security

00:51prison to being here before the representatives of 46 nations and 700 million people is a

00:58profound and a surreal shift.

01:03The experience of isolation for years in a small cell is difficult to convey.

01:09It strips away one's sense of self, leaving only the raw essence of existence.

01:16I am yet not fully equipped to speak about what I have endured, the relentless struggle

01:25to stay alive, both physically and mentally.

01:30In addition, Assange reaffirmed that his freedom does not imply that the system worked, since

01:34he had to plead guilty for the fact of doing journalism and denouncing U.S. war crimes.

01:41This, for me, is now precluded as the U.S. government insisted in writing into its plea

01:48agreement that I cannot file a case at the European Court of Human Rights or even a Freedom

01:54of Information Act request over what it did to me as a result of its expedition request.

02:01I want to be totally clear.

02:04I am not free today because the system worked.

02:08I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism.