LONDON (AP) — Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will make his first public statements since he was released from prison when he addresses the Council of Europe on Tuesday.
Assange, 53, is expected to give evidence to the legal affairs and human rights committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.
The Parliamentary Assembly, which includes parliamentarians from 46 European countries, said the hearing will discuss Assange's detention and conviction “and their chilling effect on human rights" ahead of a debate on the topic on Wednesday.
WikiLeaks said in a statement that Assange will attend the hearing in person “due to the exceptional nature of the invitation.”
Assange was released in June after five years in a British prison after he pleaded guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that concluded a drawn-out legal saga. Prior to his time in prison, he had spent seven years in self-imposed exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he claimed asylum on the grounds of political persecution.
The Australian internet publisher was accused of receiving and publishing hundreds of thousands of war logs and diplomatic cables that included details of U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. His activities were celebrated by press freedom advocates, who heralded his role in bringing to light military conduct that might otherwise have been concealed.
Among the files published by WikiLeaks was a video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by American forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists.
But critics say his conduct put American national security and innocent lives — such as people who provided information to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan — at risk, and strayed far beyond the bounds of traditional journalism duties.
The years-long case ended with Assange entering his plea in a U.S. district court on the Northern Mariana Islands, an American commonwealth in the Pacific.
Assange pleaded guilty to an Espionage Act charge of conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified national defense information. A judge sentenced him to the five years he had already spent behind bars in the U.K. fighting extradition to the United States.
Assange returned to Australia a free man in late June. At the time his wife, Stella, said he needed time to recuperate before speaking publicly.
His appearance on Tuesday comes after the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly published a report on Assange's detention in a high-security U.K. prison for five years.
The assembly's human rights committee said Assange qualified as a political prisoner and issued a draft resolution expressing deep concern at his harsh treatment.
FILE - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange leaves federal court in Saipan, Mariana Islands, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan closed schools and offices and evacuated hundreds from vulnerable areas around the island Tuesday ahead of a strong typhoon expected to hit its populated western coast after lashing northern Philippine islands.
More than 500 people were moved from mountainous regions prone to landslides. Nearly 40,000 troops were mobilized to help with rescue efforts, according to the Defense Ministry.
Typhoon Krathon is expected to hit the major port city of Kaohsiung in the island’s southwest on Wednesday morning then move across the center of Taiwan and northeast toward the East China Sea, according to the Central Weather Administration. It is expected to be felt in the capital Taipei on Wednesday and Thursday.
In Kaohsiung, a city of 2.7 million people, many stores and restaurants were closed. Up to 80 centimeters (31 inches) of rain was forecast in its mountainous areas.
The typhoon was moving toward the island with maximum sustained winds of 198 kph (123 mph) and gusts of 245 kph (152 mph), according to the weather administration.
Typhoon Krathon on Monday displaced nearly 2,000 people in the northern Philippines, where it blew away roofs of rural houses, toppled trees and caused widespread flooding.
Wind damaged an airport terminal and two parked light planes in Basco, the capital of the northernmost province of Batanes. An airstrip and a hangar were also flooded in Lingayen town in Pangasinan province, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.
There were no immediate reports of casualties by the government’s disaster-response agency, but local officials said a resident was electrocuted Monday by a downed power line while riding a motorcycle in the coastal town of Santa Ana in Cagayan province.
A soldier of Coast Guard Administration guards on the beach as Typhoon Krathon approaches to Taiwan in Yilan County, eastern coast of Taiwan, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
In this photo provided by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, a plane damaged by powerful Typhoon Krathon lies at the Basco airport as the typhoon hit Basco, Batanes province, northern Philippines Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines via AP)
In this photo provided by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, a plane lies on a flooded airport caused by powerful Typhoon Krathon at San Fernando, La Union province, northern Philippines Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines via AP)
In this photo provided by Philippine Coast Guard, rescuers use a boat to evacuate residents at a flooded village as powerful Typhoon Krathon affects Laoag, Ilocos Norte, northern Philippines Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)
Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration weather specialist Veronica Torres points at the path of powerful Typhoon Krathon on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Quezon city, Philippines as it is projected to go towards Taiwan the next day after hitting northern Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
People walk in the rain with a backdrop of the rainbow in the sky as Typhoon Krathon approaches to Taiwan in Taipei, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
People walk in the rain with a backdrop of the rainbow in the sky as Typhoon Krathon approaches to Taiwan in Taipei, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A man rides a bicycle on Surf Street as Typhoon Krathon approaches to Taiwan in Yilan County, eastern coast of Taiwan, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A man takes a photo on a beach as Typhoon Krathon approaches to Taiwan in Yilan County, eastern coast of Taiwan, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A man opens the door of his shop as Typhoon Krathon approaches to Taiwan in Yilan County, eastern coast of Taiwan, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A man walks his dog on a beach as Typhoon Krathon approaches to Taiwan in Yilan County, eastern coast of Taiwan, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Waves crash onto the coastline as Typhoon Krathon approaches to Taiwan in Yilan County, eastern coast of Taiwan, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
