STRASBOURG: ‘In the end I chose freedom over unrealizable justice’ – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in his first public response since being released from prison. Assange said this while addressing a function at the Council of Europe, the international body of the Human Rights Convention. He also openly stated that legal and political efforts were insufficient to protect his freedom, which necessitated his guilty plea to US espionage charges.

Assange, 53, returned to his native Australia in June after pleading guilty to violating US espionage laws after a 14-year prison sentence.

‘Today I am free after years of imprisonment. Because I confessed to my journalism. Pleaded guilty to seeking information from a source. “He pleaded guilty to telling the public what that information was,” he said. Assange, dressed in a black suit, sat between his wife Stella and WikiLeaks editor Christine Hrafson, looking at the paper and reading it.

In 2010, WikiLeaks released hundreds of thousands of US military documents on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was the largest security leak of its kind in U.S. military history. Years later, Assange was indicted under the Espionage Act. But a report by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concluded that Assange was a political prisoner and called for Britain to investigate whether he had been subjected to inhumane treatment.

‘I’m not quite ready to talk about what I’ve endured. Isolation took its toll. He added that he is trying to forget it. Last month, Assange said his wife Stella, whom he married while in prison in London, needed time to regain his health and sanity after his long prison term.

Speaking freely during a subsequent question-and-answer session, Assange said he would be barred from bringing another case to defend himself against U.S. espionage charges. Asked about his next plans, he said the ‘Strasbourg hearing’ aimed at raising awareness of the need to protect whistleblowers and informants was a first step.

Looking for some ‘tricks’ to adjust to normal life after years of imprisonment. Learning to be a father to two children who grew up without him. When he said that he is becoming a husband again in a family that includes his mother-in-law, he drew laughter from the crowd.

Assange was first arrested in Britain on a European arrest warrant in 2010 after Swedish authorities said they wanted to question him on sex crime allegations. He fled to the Ecuadorian embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden. He stayed there for seven years. After skipping bail in 2019, he was dragged from the embassy and transferred to Belmarsh top security prison in London.