'I Pleaded Guilty To Journalism,' Wikileaks' Assange

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday said he was released after years of incarceration only because he had pleaded guilty to doing "journalism", which he described as a pillar of a free society.

"I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism," Assange told the Council of Europe rights body in his first public comments since his release, adding: "Journalism is not a crime, it is a pillar of a free and informed society."