In the resolution, PACE notes that many of the leaked files WikiLeaks published “provide credible evidence of war crimes, human rights abuses, and government misconduct.” The revelations also “confirmed the existence of secret prisons, kidnappings and illegal transfers of prisoners by the United States on European soil.”

The Council of Europe has classified Julian Assange, founder of the Wikileaks whistleblowing publisher, as a political prisoner in a resolution adopted in Strasbourg on Wednesday. The Council's Parliamentary Assembly referred to the serious accusations made by the United States against Assange,

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said he "plead guilty to journalism" in his first public appearance on Tuesday since being freed from a high-security U.K. prison. Why it matters: Assange expressed concern before human rights officials from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and alleged heightened censorship and retaliation since his arrest for one of the biggest leaks of classified information in U.