Don’t criminalize journalists – DW – October 1, 2024

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who was released in June after years in prison, called for better protection for journalists in his first public appearance. “The criminalization of news gathering is a threat to investigative journalism worldwide,” Assange told the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

“I am free because I pleaded guilty”

“I am not free today because the system worked. “I am free today because, after years of imprisonment, I pleaded guilty to journalism,” Assange said. The rights of journalists in Europe are at risk. Journalism is “not a crime, but a pillar of a free and informed society”.

Assange was released in June after a deal with the US justice system after spending 14 years in house arrest, in the embassy building and in a British high-security prison. He had pleaded guilty to passing on confidential information for the defense as part of an agreement with the US judiciary and was sentenced to prison, which he had already served. After his release, the 53-year-old returned to his home country of Australia.

700,000 confidential documents relating to US activities

The US justice system had accused the founder of the disclosure platform Wikileaks of having published around 700,000 confidential documents about US military and diplomatic activities from 2010 onwards. The documents contained explosive information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the killing of civilians and the mistreatment of prisoners by US soldiers.

The USA accused Assange of endangering the lives of informants and the security of the country. His worst critics even see him as a traitor. Assange’s supporters, however, see him as a courageous journalist who exposed war crimes.

Since the exclusion of Russia, 46 countries have belonged to the Council of Europe, which sees itself as a guardian of human rights. The institution, which is independent of the EU, has repeatedly dealt with Assange’s situation in the past. The Australian thanked his supporters and appealed: “We should all join together to do our part to ensure that the light of freedom never goes out, that the search for truth continues and that the voices of the many are not compromised by the interests of the few.” . “Be silenced.”

sti/se (afp, ap, rtr, dpa)