Julian Assange made his first public appearance since his release from prison, telling European lawmakers that the United States had forced him to “admit guilt for journalism” to end his years of captivity and that his case still sets a concerning precedent.

Assange addressed a hearing at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France on Tuesday.

He explained that he ultimately chose “freedom over an unattainable sense of justice” when accepting the agreement that allowed him to walk free after 14 years of confinement.

“My freedom today isn't a result of a fair system. I am free today after years of imprisonment because I admitted guilt for practicing journalism,” Assange stated during the hearing, which was broadcast live.

Assange was released from Britain’s Belmarsh prison in June and transported to a U.S.-district court on the Pacific island of Saipan after agreeing to the deal. There he pleaded guilty to conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. documents and a judge sentenced him to 62 weeks in prison, which matched his time spent in Belmarsh. The U.S. had been seeking to convict Assange on 18 charges under the Espionage Act.

The agreement put an end to the U.S.'s more than decade-long pursuit of Assange for his role in releasing thousands of classified materials, including diplomatic cables and some materials revealing potential war crimes by American soldiers.

“I admitted to seeking information from a source. I admitted to obtaining information from a source, and I admitted to informing the public about that information. I didn't admit to anything else,” Assange said.

Assange was imprisoned in Belmarsh for five years while fighting extradition to the U.S. Before that, he spent seven years confined to the Ecuadorian embassy in London, facing arrest if he stepped outside.

"The experience of being isolated for years in a small cell is hard to describe," Assange said on Tuesday. "It erodes your sense of self, leaving only the basic essence of existence. I'm not fully ready to talk about what I've endured.”

Since his release, Assange has been residing with his wife Stella and their two young sons in his native Australia.

"I think it's clear that he is exhausted, that he is still very much in the process of recovering," Stella Assange told reporters at the hearing. "And currently, the only concrete plan in the foreseeable future is that he will continue his recovery.”

Assange and his supporters have cautioned that the plea bargain still sets a concerning precedent for media freedom, making him the first journalist to be convicted under the Espionage Act. At the hearing, Assange asserted that he was prevented from seeking legal redress for his detention, stating that the U.S. had mandated the plea agreement to include a prohibition on his filing cases at the European Court of Human Rights.

He and his team are campaigning for a U.S. presidential pardon.

Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks’ editor-in-chief, who also attended Tuesday’s hearing, addressed the precedent of Assange's pardon with
.

“You need to remove that dagger. It's been used once already. And if there's no response, no push, no political will to take that weapon away from any politician's hand, it will be used again,” said Hrafnsson.

When asked if Assange had plans to work with WikiLeaks now that he was free, Hrafnsson said he had nothing to share at this time.

"I'm sure there will be a position," Hrafnnson said. "And of course there is a role for Julian. And naturally, there's a role for recognizing his work, his past, and his legacy. Julian Assange contributed significantly to the history of journalism in this century.”