Julian Assange applauds after PACE resolution recognizing him as a ‘political prisoner’ is approved

Julian and Stella Assange applaud in response to Wednesday’s approval of a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe resolution on “The detention and conviction of Julian Assange and their chilling effects on human rights”

The resolution’s approval came a day after Assange spoke at a parliamentary hearing in Strasbourg, giving his first in-person public remarks since his release from prison earlier this year

In the resolution, the Parliamentary Assembly considers that “the disproportionately severe charges brought by the United States of America against Julian Assange under the Espionage Act, exposing him to a risk of de facto life imprisonment, combined with his conviction and sentencing under the Espionage Act for – what was in essence – news-gathering and publishing” fulfill the criteria set out in a 2012 Assembly resolution defining “political prisoner” and “warrant the designation of Mr Assange as a political prisoner”

The Assembly, in the resolution, calls on the United States (which has observer status with the Council of Europe) to reform the 1917 Espionage Act, “make its application conditional on the presence of a malicious intent to harm the national security of the United States or to aid a foreign power”, and “exclude the application of the Espionage Act to publishers, journalists and whistle-blowers who disclose classified information with the intent to raise public awareness and inform on serious crimes, such as murder, torture, corruption, or illegal surveillance”

The resolution includes further calls from the Assembly for the United States to “conduct thorough, impartial, and transparent investigations into alleged war crimes and human rights violations disclosed by WikiLeaks and Mr Assange” and to “co-operate in good faith with the Spanish judicial authorities to clarify all facts of the alleged unlawful surveillance of Mr Assange and his interlocutors in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London”

Additional text of the resolution can be found here: https://pace.coe.int/en/files/33826/html