WikiLeaks founder says media ‘abused’ him

Julian Assange has claimed he has suffered from inaccurate and negative media coverage “possibly on a scale not seen since the abuse of the McCanns”.

The WikiLeaks founder criticised newspaper and magazine watchdog the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) for its handling of his complaints.

In a written statement to the Leveson Inquiry released yesterday, Mr Assange suggested that inaccurate reporting of his case had an impact on his battle against extradition to Sweden to face sex crime allegations.

He compared himself to Kate and Gerry McCann, who were the subject of many negative articles after Portuguese police temporarily made them arguidos [formal suspects] in the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine in May 2007.

He wrote: “Those who have been the subject of ongoing, widespread inaccurate and negative media coverage – as I have, possibly on a scale not seen since the abuse of the McCanns – know that the harms created for individuals and small organisations or groups by a failure to maintain high ethical journalistic standards can be severe and almost insurmountable.”