Julian Assange 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).

In his first public remarks since his release from detention at Belmarsh Prison in the UK, 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.”