By PASCAL BASTIEN, BARBARA SURK and SYLVIA HUI STRASBOURG, France (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Tuesday that he was freed after years of incarceration because he “pled guilty to journalism.” In his first public remarks since he was released from prison in June, Assange gave evidence of the impact of his detention and conviction to the legal affairs and human rights committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.