Wikileaks' Assange to Make First Public Appearance Since Release in Strasbourg

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange waves as he arrives in Canberra, Australia, June 26, 2024. (REUTERS/Edgar Su)

LONDON (Reuters) - WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange is set to make his first public appearance since being freed from a British jail when he gives evidence to the Council of Europe next month, his organisation said on Wednesday.

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

His wife Stella, who he married while in a top security London jail, said 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.

He will now speak in public for the first time when he gives evidence to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg on Oct 1.

It comes after a PACE report into his case which concluded he was a political prisoner and called for Britain to hold an inquiry into whether he had been exposed to inhuman treatment.

"It will be an exceptional break from his recovery as (the Council of Europe) invited Julian to provide testimony for the ... Committee’s report into his case and its wider implications," Stella Assange said on X.

 

(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by William James)