08:37Julian Assange's wife Stella said the WikiLeaks founder had 'made an exception' to appear before the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights at the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg on Tuesday, during his long road to recovery following his release from prison earlier this year.
"I just want to emphasise the kind of enormous exception he made for the importance of the report to be able to address the committee because of the importance that it has and the implications that his case has for other journalists," she said. "So he thought that this was an exceptional opportunity that he didn't want to miss, but I think everyone can tell that he is exhausted, that he is still very much in the process of recovering."
"At the moment, that's the only concrete plan in the foreseeable future is that he will continue his recovery and that hopefully he will be a lot stronger physically and in a few months' time," she added.
The hearing marked his first public appearance since his release from prison in the UK and return to Australia, following a US plea deal in June. The hearing came as part of a report by Iceland's Thorhildur Sunna Aevarsdóttir, and ahead of a debate on a resolution calling for him to be recognised as a 'political prisoner' on Wednesday.
"The United States can use their espionage legislation to hunt down journalists wherever they may be in the world and make their life unbearable. So we have a call in the... resolution that I call on all of my members in the Parliamentary Assembly to support that the United States of America review its espionage law," she said.
"But not only that, we also call on the United Kingdom to review their extradition legislation, which doesn't include the exclusion for political offence. Now, the treaty includes it, but the national legislation didn't transpose it in the latest change. It was there before, but it's no longer there. And this we see as an obvious and clear loophole that needs to be remedied by the United Kingdom," she added.
She said it had been her experience "that it definitely matters if it's your allies that are doing the human rights violations rather than the people that you'd more easily designate as human rights violators."
Stella also claimed that there needed to be 'aggressive pushback' against such measures, as countries were seeking to 'harmonise' on similar legislation.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief added that "many journalists were being misled" throughout Julian's case.
"I don't know if it's a manipulation, a manipulation of the media, a manipulation of journalists. So we need, as journalists, to be on guard against influences, and not make these missteps," he said.
The PACE committee has previously criticised Assange's treatment and called for the US to investigate revelations about alleged war crimes and human rights violations highlighted by the WikiLeaks organisation.
During the earlier hearing Assange himself claimed he was "not free today because the system worked" but was "free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism".
Assange spent five years in Belmarsh, fighting extradition to the US, after being dragged from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London following a seven-year standoff.
He was wanted in the US on 18 charges related to the release of classified documents involving the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and plead guilty to a single charge of espionage at a hearing in the Northern Mariana islands. He was sentenced to time served in Belmarsh and allowed to return home.
Julian 'made an exception' to be here, he 'will continue recovery' - Wife Stella as EU rapporteur calls for review of US espionage law, UK extradition
Julian Assange's wife Stella said the WikiLeaks founder had 'made an exception' to appear before the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights at the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg on Tuesday, during his long road to recovery following his release from prison earlier this year.
"I just want to emphasise the kind of enormous exception he made for the importance of the report to be able to address the committee because of the importance that it has and the implications that his case has for other journalists," she said. "So he thought that this was an exceptional opportunity that he didn't want to miss, but I think everyone can tell that he is exhausted, that he is still very much in the process of recovering."
"At the moment, that's the only concrete plan in the foreseeable future is that he will continue his recovery and that hopefully he will be a lot stronger physically and in a few months' time," she added.
The hearing marked his first public appearance since his release from prison in the UK and return to Australia, following a US plea deal in June. The hearing came as part of a report by Iceland's Thorhildur Sunna Aevarsdóttir, and ahead of a debate on a resolution calling for him to be recognised as a 'political prisoner' on Wednesday.
"The United States can use their espionage legislation to hunt down journalists wherever they may be in the world and make their life unbearable. So we have a call in the... resolution that I call on all of my members in the Parliamentary Assembly to support that the United States of America review its espionage law," she said.
"But not only that, we also call on the United Kingdom to review their extradition legislation, which doesn't include the exclusion for political offence. Now, the treaty includes it, but the national legislation didn't transpose it in the latest change. It was there before, but it's no longer there. And this we see as an obvious and clear loophole that needs to be remedied by the United Kingdom," she added.
She said it had been her experience "that it definitely matters if it's your allies that are doing the human rights violations rather than the people that you'd more easily designate as human rights violators."
Stella also claimed that there needed to be 'aggressive pushback' against such measures, as countries were seeking to 'harmonise' on similar legislation.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief added that "many journalists were being misled" throughout Julian's case.
"I don't know if it's a manipulation, a manipulation of the media, a manipulation of journalists. So we need, as journalists, to be on guard against influences, and not make these missteps," he said.
The PACE committee has previously criticised Assange's treatment and called for the US to investigate revelations about alleged war crimes and human rights violations highlighted by the WikiLeaks organisation.
During the earlier hearing Assange himself claimed he was "not free today because the system worked" but was "free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism".
Assange spent five years in Belmarsh, fighting extradition to the US, after being dragged from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London following a seven-year standoff.
He was wanted in the US on 18 charges related to the release of classified documents involving the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and plead guilty to a single charge of espionage at a hearing in the Northern Mariana islands. He was sentenced to time served in Belmarsh and allowed to return home.
Julian Assange's wife Stella said the WikiLeaks founder had 'made an exception' to appear before the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights at the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg on Tuesday, during his long road to recovery following his release from prison earlier this year.
"I just want to emphasise the kind of enormous exception he made for the importance of the report to be able to address the committee because of the importance that it has and the implications that his case has for other journalists," she said. "So he thought that this was an exceptional opportunity that he didn't want to miss, but I think everyone can tell that he is exhausted, that he is still very much in the process of recovering."
"At the moment, that's the only concrete plan in the foreseeable future is that he will continue his recovery and that hopefully he will be a lot stronger physically and in a few months' time," she added.
The hearing marked his first public appearance since his release from prison in the UK and return to Australia, following a US plea deal in June. The hearing came as part of a report by Iceland's Thorhildur Sunna Aevarsdóttir, and ahead of a debate on a resolution calling for him to be recognised as a 'political prisoner' on Wednesday.
"The United States can use their espionage legislation to hunt down journalists wherever they may be in the world and make their life unbearable. So we have a call in the... resolution that I call on all of my members in the Parliamentary Assembly to support that the United States of America review its espionage law," she said.
"But not only that, we also call on the United Kingdom to review their extradition legislation, which doesn't include the exclusion for political offence. Now, the treaty includes it, but the national legislation didn't transpose it in the latest change. It was there before, but it's no longer there. And this we see as an obvious and clear loophole that needs to be remedied by the United Kingdom," she added.
She said it had been her experience "that it definitely matters if it's your allies that are doing the human rights violations rather than the people that you'd more easily designate as human rights violators."
Stella also claimed that there needed to be 'aggressive pushback' against such measures, as countries were seeking to 'harmonise' on similar legislation.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief added that "many journalists were being misled" throughout Julian's case.
"I don't know if it's a manipulation, a manipulation of the media, a manipulation of journalists. So we need, as journalists, to be on guard against influences, and not make these missteps," he said.
The PACE committee has previously criticised Assange's treatment and called for the US to investigate revelations about alleged war crimes and human rights violations highlighted by the WikiLeaks organisation.
During the earlier hearing Assange himself claimed he was "not free today because the system worked" but was "free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism".
Assange spent five years in Belmarsh, fighting extradition to the US, after being dragged from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London following a seven-year standoff.
He was wanted in the US on 18 charges related to the release of classified documents involving the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and plead guilty to a single charge of espionage at a hearing in the Northern Mariana islands. He was sentenced to time served in Belmarsh and allowed to return home.