Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media platform: The Degel HaTorah party, which has four members in the Knesset, announces its withdrawal from Netanyahu's cabinet.
Local Syrian sources: The raids targeted the road between the village of Al-Mazra'a and the city of Sweida, where forces and factions affiliated with the Syrian Ministry of Defense are advancing.
Local Syrian sources: New raids carried out by Israeli warplanes targeted vehicles and gatherings of military factions affiliated with the new Syrian Ministry of Defense.
Local Syrian sources: Israeli raids target, for the third time, gatherings of Syrian Defense Forces military factions in the southern countryside of Sweida.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza: Gaza Strip hospitals received 120 martyrs and 557 wounded in the past 24 hours.
The Israeli Walla! website: We are running out of stockpiles, our forces are exhausted, and the lives of the captives are in danger. It is time for a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Several wounded in an Israeli bombardment of a tent in al-Mawasi, south of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli media: Three wounded, three killed in an ongoing operation in the Gaza Strip.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in southern Lebanon: Israeli artillery shelling targets the outskirts of the town of Shebaa
Al-Qassam Brigades: The targeting took place at the intersection of 'Street 5' with the western line north of Khan Younis

PACE declares Julian Assange a political prisoner, criticizes US, UK

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 2 Oct 2024 23:03
3 Min Read

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) officially recognized Julian Assange as a political prisoner, criticizing the US for prosecuting him to conceal state misconduct and condemning the UK for failing to protect his freedom of expression and right to liberty.

Listen
  • x
  • Wikileaks founder Julian Assange attends the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien)
    Wikileaks founder Julian Assange attends the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France, Tuesday, October 1, 2024. (AP)

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), comprising lawmakers from 46 European countries, officially recognized WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as a political prisoner on Wednesday, following his testimony the previous day regarding his treatment by US and UK authorities.

"The Assembly determined that Mr. Assange’s treatment justified his designation as a 'political prisoner' under a definition agreed in 2012, citing the severe charges brought against him by the US, which expose him to the possibility of life imprisonment, combined with his conviction under the US Espionage Act 'for what was – in essence – newsgathering and publishing,'" read the statement.

The resolution passed with a vote of 88 in favor, 13 against, and 20 abstentions, with most of the opposition coming from lawmakers in the UK and Poland.

Read more: Assange plea deal was the result of imminent US extradition failure

PACE criticized the US for failing to investigate the war crimes and human rights violations revealed by WikiLeaks, suggesting that Assange's prosecution appeared to be aimed at concealing state misconduct rather than protecting national security.

The assembly also condemned the UK for failing to safeguard Assange’s freedom of expression and right to liberty, subjecting him to prolonged detention in a high-security prison despite the political nature of the charges against him.

'I pleaded guilty to journalism'

On Tuesday, Assange testified before PACE's legal affairs and human rights committee in Strasbourg, marking his first public appearance since his release from a London prison on June 25.

Related News

Bolton dismisses Trump’s Nobel hopes over Ukraine policy shift

US pressure on Lebanon grows over Resistance disarmament plan

He revealed that part of his plea deal with the US included a condition preventing him from filing a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights to challenge the verdict.

Assange told the Council of Europe rights body during his first public comments since his release, held at its Strasbourg headquarters, "I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism." 

He remarked, "I eventually chose freedom over unrealizable justice... justice for me is now precluded," highlighting that he had faced a potential 175-year prison sentence.

Speaking calmly and accompanied by his wife Stella, who campaigned for his release, Assange emphasized, "Journalism is not a crime; it is a pillar of a free and informed society."

He stressed, "The fundamental issue is simple. Journalists should not be prosecuted for doing their jobs."

The cache of confidential documents released by WikiLeaks contained candid US State Department assessments of foreign leaders, reports of extrajudicial killings, and intelligence operations against allies.

Assange argued that his case sheds light on "how powerful intelligence organizations engage in transnational repression" against their adversaries, warning that this "cannot become the norm here."

Read more: Georges Abdallah campaign salutes Assange, calls for former's release

Earlier in June, a US judge sentenced WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to time served, with no supervised release, following his guilty plea to a charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information related to the national defense of the United States.

Assange had been imprisoned in the high-security Belmarsh prison in London since April 2019 after British police were allowed to raid the Ecuadorian Embassy where he had secured asylum since 2012. 

  • United States
  • Political prisoners
  • Freedom of Speech
  • United Kingdom
  • WikiLeaks
  • PACE
  • Julian Assange

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025
Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Al Mayadeen: UN Palestine Inquiry members reportedly resigned
Politics

Al Mayadeen: UN Palestine Inquiry members reportedly resigned

Rutte, Trump
US & Canada

Trump threatens 100% secondary tariffs on Russia, sets deadline

Syrian government soldiers on a motorcycle pass by a burning tank on the outskirts of Sweida city, where clashes erupted between the Druze community and Bedouine clans, in southern Syria, Monday, July 14, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli airstrikes target Syrian military factions near Sweida

Lebanon, US, disarmament
MENA

US pressure on Lebanon grows over Resistance disarmament plan

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS