SYDNEY (AFP) – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange plans to break his post-prison silence in an address to a Council of Europe committee next month, his organisation said Wednesday.
WikiLeaks said Assange would travel from Australia to Strasbourg to “give testimony” in person to a legal committee that has investigated his case.
Assange was released from a British prison in June, where he served time for publishing hundreds of thousands of confidential US government documents.
He is hailed by supporters as a champion of free speech and investigative journalism who was wrongly imprisoned.
His detractors say his decision to publish countless sensitive documents uncensored put lives at risk across the world and fundamentally jeopardised US security.
Since being released, Assange has not spoken publicly about the 14 years he spent holed up in the Ecuadoran embassy in London avoiding charges and later at Belmarsh Prison.
He was released and returned to Australia after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disseminate national defence information.
Since then he has been seen infrequently, reuniting with his wife on arrival at a Canberra airport and through released family photos taken on a quiet beach.
WikiLeaks and his wife Stella Assange have occasionally offered updates about his well-being.
“Julian Assange is still in recovery following his release from prison,” the organisation said on Wednesday.
“He is attending this session in person due to the exceptional nature of the invitation.”
The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly is scheduled to debate a report about his case on October 2.
WikiLeaks said that “on October 1, Julian Assange will arrive in Strasbourg to give evidence before the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights”.
The Council of Europe is an international organisation that brings together the 46 signatory states of the European Convention on Human Rights.
