Julian Assange makes first public appearance following release from prison

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange made his first public appearance Tuesday at a Council of Europe hearing where he said he was forced to plead guilty to "journalism."

“I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism,” he said during the hearing, according to ABC News.

In June, Assange was released from Britain's Belmarsh prison after he accepted a plea deal. 

He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose U.S. national defense information. The plea deal meant he would not serve any time in an American prison

Assange was originally indicted on 18 charges in 2019 that centered on Wikileaks' decision to release classified U.S. military documents that were provided by former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010 and 2011.

The records consisted of thousands of pages of intelligence cables that included information about Guantanamo Bay detainees, the War in Afghanistan, and documents that could have endangered confidential U.S. sources.