In late June, Julian Assange returned to Australia a free man after years of suffering in harsh conditions in a Britain prison with the threat of extradition to the United States hanging over him. Since then, the WikiLeaks founder, who the US government sought to prosecute for exposing US dirty secrets including related to US military actions, has not spoken publicly. That will change by October 1.
WikiLeaks announced in a Tuesday press release that Assange will next Tuesday, October 1, at the Palace of Europe in Strasbourg, France “give evidence before the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).” The press release further states:
This comes following the release of the PACE inquiry report into the Assange case, authored by Rapporteur Thórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir. The report focuses on the implications of his detention and its broader effects on human rights, in particular freedom of journalism. The report confirms that Assange qualifies as a political prisoner and calls on the UK conduct an independent review into whether he was exposed to inhuman or degrading treatment.
Read the press release here.