WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange blames British legal system, banks and oil giants for detention during speech in Strasbourg
The WikiLeaks founder has spoken for the first time since striking a plea deal with the US, blaming powerful British and American institutions, oil giants and banks for his lengthy battle with the law.
Julian Assange has blamed 14 years of his detention on a compliant British legal establishment in hock to keeping important British-American interests intact, such as arms manufacturer BAE, various banks, and oil companies such as BP and Shell.
Assange spoke for the first time since arriving at a plea deal with the US, addressing the Council of Europe parliamentarians in Strasbourg on Tuesday that it “was good to be among friends” and thanking “all the people who understood my liberation was their own liberation”.
He said he had expected “harassment and legal processes” when he solicited, obtained and then published US information back in 2010 and 2011 but he had been prepared to fight for that to reveal US war crimes.
Assange on Tuesday said at that time he believed his basic rights would have been protected under European law and in the US no publisher had been prosecuted for publishing information, domestically or internationally.
“My naivety was believing in the law,’’ he said during a 45-minute address to the parliamentarians, adding that “when push comes to shove, the laws are reinterpreted for public expediency’’.
He said he had angered one of the constitutional powers of the US – the intelligence sector.
“It was powerful enough to push for a reinterpretation of the US constitution … and yes, perhaps ultimately if I had gotten to Supreme Court of the US, and I was still alive, I might have won, depending on the make-up of the US judges in the system.
“In the meantime, I had lost 14 years, the house arrest, the embassy siege, the incarnation in Belmarsh … It is an important lesson that when a major power wants to reinterpret the law … it doesn’t care too much about what is legal, that’s something for a much later date; and in the meantime there is a deterrent effect, a retribution effect.”
Assange, 54, said it had been a surreal shift from prison isolation to Australian life and he admitted to still adjusting to life as a husband and father. He even made a joke about his mother-in-law.
The WikiLeaks founder, who admitted to finding some aspects of modern life “spooky” – such as the quietness of electric cars, and automated airport checking and machines to make grocery purchases – said he was trying to understand artificial intelligence and how it has been used to co-join assassinations and warfare.
He also criticised mainstream media outlets, saying he would revisit his selection of newspapers he had partnered with to help publish the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs.
He said under the plea deal with the US, he was unable to initiate any legal action or even request Freedom of Information documents in relation to his case.
He was clearly still angered by the steps taken by the CIA director Mike Pompeo, which he blamed for his time as a remand prisoner in a British jail for five years before coming to a plea deal arrangement earlier this year.
He said all of the judges involved in his various legal battles in Britain “showed deference to the US” and “engaged in astonishing intellectual backflips to allow the US to have its way on my extradition”.
He claimed the selection of British judges from a narrow section of British society resulted in a group of people benefiting for long periods of time in keeping good relationships with the US.
“The UK establishment is made up of people (who have) benefited for long periods of time … all judges don’t need to be told, they understand what is good for that cohort and good is keeping good relationships with the US,’’ he said, ticking off “BAE, the largest weapon manufacturer, BP, Shell, and some major banks”.
Assange’s wife, Stella, said her husband had made an exceptional effort to go to France to speak. “Everyone can tell he is exhausted,’’ she said.
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