Julian Assange tells European lawmakers he ‘chose freedom over an unrealizable justice’
Julian Assange tells European lawmakers he ‘chose freedom over an unrealizable justice’ in first public comments since release from prison | 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.