WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange has spoken out for the first time since his release from prison following his plea deal with the U.S. government.
“This unprecedented global effort was needed… because of the legal protections that did exist, many existed only on paper, were not effective in any remotely reasonable time. I eventually chose freedom over unrealizable justice,” Assange said.
“After being detained for years and facing a 175-year sentence with no effective remedy, justice for me is now precluded as the U.S. government insisted in writing into its plea agreement that I cannot file the case at the European Court of Human Rights or even a Freedom of Information Act request over what it did to me as a result of its expedition request,” he continued.
“I want to be totally clear: I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism. I pled guilty to seeking information from a source. I pled guilty to obtaining information from a source, and I pled guilty to informing the public what that information was. I did not plead guilty to anything else,” Assange added.
Journalist Glenn