I Chose Freedom over Justice, Julian Assange Tells European Lawmakers

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (R) and his wife Stella Assage (L) at the Council of Europe to be auditioned in Strasbourg, France, 01 October 2024. (EPA)
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (R) and his wife Stella Assage (L) at the Council of Europe to be auditioned in Strasbourg, France, 01 October 2024. (EPA)
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I Chose Freedom over Justice, Julian Assange Tells European Lawmakers

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (R) and his wife Stella Assage (L) at the Council of Europe to be auditioned in Strasbourg, France, 01 October 2024. (EPA)
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (R) and his wife Stella Assage (L) at the Council of Europe to be auditioned in Strasbourg, France, 01 October 2024. (EPA)

Julian Assange, the founder of whistleblower media group WikiLeaks, told European lawmakers on Tuesday his guilty plea to US espionage accusations was necessary because legal and political efforts to protect his freedom were not sufficient.

"I eventually chose freedom over an unrealizable justice," Assange said, in his first public comments since his release from prison.

Assange, 53, returned to his home country Australia in June after a deal was struck for his release which saw him plead guilty to violating US espionage law, ending a 14-year British legal odyssey.

"I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism, pleaded guilty to seeking information from sources, I pleaded guilty to obtaining information from a source and I pleaded guilty to informing the public", he added.

Assange was addressing the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights at the Council of Europe, the international organization best known for its human rights convention.

A report by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concluded Assange was a political prisoner and called for Britain to hold an inquiry into whether he had been exposed to inhuman treatment.

Dressed in a black suit with a burgundy tie and wearing a slight white beard, Assange sat between his wife Stella, and WikiLeaks' editor Kristinn Hrafnsson, reading out his initial remarks from sheets of paper.

"I am yet not fully equipped to speak about what I have endured," he said, adding: "Isolation has taken its toll which I am trying to unwind."

His wife, whom he married while in a London jail, said last month he would need some time to regain his health and sanity after his long incarceration, as well as to be with their two children who he had never seen outside of a prison.

The most controversial leaks by WikiLeaks featured classified US military documents and videos from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early to mid 2000s that it said highlighted issues such as abuse of prisoners in US custody, human rights violations and civilian deaths.

US authorities said the leaks were reckless, damaged national security, and endangered the lives of agents.



Silver Surfers Mass for Record Bid in Brazil

 Drone picture of surfers trying to ride the same wave to break the Guinness World Record, in Santos, Brazil November 10, 2024. (Reuters)
Drone picture of surfers trying to ride the same wave to break the Guinness World Record, in Santos, Brazil November 10, 2024. (Reuters)
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Silver Surfers Mass for Record Bid in Brazil

 Drone picture of surfers trying to ride the same wave to break the Guinness World Record, in Santos, Brazil November 10, 2024. (Reuters)
Drone picture of surfers trying to ride the same wave to break the Guinness World Record, in Santos, Brazil November 10, 2024. (Reuters)

Three hundred surfers over the age of 50 gathered at the weekend in Santos, Sao Paulo to attempt a world record for the most people riding the same wave.

Participants, many of whom took up surfing later in life, arrived early, eager to hit the water.

"I had a crazy desire to learn (to surf) and when I started, I couldn't stop," said Christiane Melin. "It's an addiction, but an addiction that's really good. It's a really great sensation to ride the waves."

The event, organized by a local surf school specializing in teaching older adults, emphasized community and well-being.

"This is a great example to show the world the importance that, after the pandemic and beyond politics, we can all be together on the same wave," said organizer Cisco Arana.

Though the group fell short of breaking the record - 98 surfers managed to ride a wave together, shy of the 110 achieved in South Africa in 2009 - the event highlighted the transformative power of the sport.

"There were some people who were retired and were a bit idle, there were people with depression, there were people with problems, and then they started to get into surfing," said Marco Horta, a retiree.

"While surfing in nature, people talked, made friends and started to be happy."