PACE hearing on Julian Assange’s detention and conviction and their chilling effects on human rights

Julian Assange, accompanied by his wife Stella, took part 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) due the following day. The hearing was organised by the Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights in the framework of a report on this topic by Thorhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC). Wikileaks Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson also took part. In his first public remarks since his release from detention at Belmarsh Prison in the UK four months ago, 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.“ He