In his first TV interview since being released from jail, Julian Assange makes several very strong points:

First, Assange makes the point that WikiLeaks is a legitimate part of the media, and if people think they can avoid government attack by not defending WikiLeaks they don’t understand history:

They believe that if they sell us out, if they say, well he’s not really a journalist, they can have the Washington authorities target us and destroy us and somehow steer clear of the crossfire. … but I have a message to them: they’re going to be next.

Next, he responds to people who accuse him of being a terrorist. Even the Pentagon has admitted that there has been no physical harm done to any people exposed by WikiLeaks, so how is he a terrorist? And the people calling for him to be assassinated (or “illegally murdered” as was said on Fox News), aren’t they terrorists since they are using violence or the threat of violence to achieve political ends? It is even worse when elected officials in the US call for his execution. “What sort of message does that send about the rule of law in the United States?”

And finally, Assange points out that the US government has been holding accused whistleblower Bradley Manning in solitary confinement for months (which according to some human rights activists is psychological torture), while at the same time trying to cut a plea deal with Manning to testify against Assange.

This is justice? This is what America stands for? Does the rest of the world laugh when we claim that our enemies hate us because of our freedoms?