WATCH: Assange’s Testimony in Strasbourg

The liberated WikiLeaks publisher testified on Tuesday in his first public appearance since his plea deal hearing in June. Watch it on replay here.

Please scroll to 12:45 for the start.

Julian Assange appeared before the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, France on Tuesday morning.

He testified to PACE members, passed a resolution last month dealing with Assange’s treatment by both the U.S. and British governments; the need for “urgent” reform of the U.S. Espionage Act; and for the U.S. to cooperate in the Spanish legal case about the U.S. surveillance of Assange.

These are highlights of the resolution:

“The Assembly considers that the disproportionately severe charges brought against Julian Assange by the United States of America, as well as heavy penalties foreseen under the Espionage Act for engaging in acts of journalism fall within the criteria set out in Resolution 1900 (2012) “The definition of political prisoner”.

19. The Assembly also regrets that the authorities of the United Kingdom failed to effectively protect Mr Assange’s freedom of expression and right to liberty, exposing him to lengthy detention in a high-security prison despite the political nature of the most severe charges against him. His detention with a view to extradition far exceeded the reasonable length acceptable for that purpose. The Assembly regrets that the Extradition Act of 2003 removed the political offence exemption from United Kingdom extradition law, exposing dissidents and opposition members to the risk of being extradited to States prosecuting them on political grounds.

20. The Assembly considers that the misuse of the 1917 Espionage Act by the United States to prosecute Julian Assange has caused a dangerous chilling effect, dissuading publishers, journalists and whistle-blowers from reporting on governmental misconduct, thus severely undermining freedom of expression and opening room for further abuse by State authorities. To this end, the Assembly calls on the United States of America – a State having the observer status with the Council of Europe – to:

20.1 urgently reform the 1917 Espionage Act and 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;

20.2 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.

21. The Assembly further calls on the United States of America to:

21.1 conduct thorough, impartial, and transparent investigations into alleged war crimes and human rights violations disclosed by WikiLeaks and Mr Assange, holding those responsible to account and tackling a culture of impunity towards State agents or those acting at their behest;

21.2 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.

22. The Assembly calls on the United Kingdom to:

22.1 urgently review its extradition laws in order to prevent the possibility of extraditing individuals wanted for offences of political nature;

22.2 conduct an independent review of the treatment of Julian Assange by the relevant authorities with a view to establishing whether he has been exposed to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, pursuant to their international obligations.

23. The Assembly calls on the Council of Europe member and observer States to:

23.1 provide adequate protection, including asylum, to whistle-blowers who expose unlawful activities of their governments and, for those reasons, are threatened with retaliation in their home States, provided their disclosures qualify for protection under the principles advocated by the Assembly, in particular, the defence of the public interest;

23.2 refrain from extraditing individuals for charges related to journalistic activities, in particular when these charges appear grossly disproportionate to the alleged offence;

23.3 continue to improve the protection of whistle-blowers and effectiveness of whistle-blowing procedures;

23.4 review their shield laws and ensure that journalists are effectively protected from being forced to reveal their sources;

23.5 increase government transparency by reducing the scope of information that can be classified as secret and encourage the spontaneous release of information not critical to national security;

23.6 implement strict guidelines and relevant oversight mechanisms to prevent the overclassification of government documents as secret, where their contents do not warrant this.

24. The Assembly also urges media organisations to establish robust protocols for handling and verifying classified information to ensure responsible reporting, thus avoiding any risk for national security and the safety of informers and sources.”