The Assembly – which brings together parliamentarians from the 46 nations of the Council of Europe – also called on the US to investigate the alleged war crimes and human rights violations disclosed by him and Wikileaks.

Its failure to do so, combined with the harsh treatment of Mr Assange and Ms Manning, creates a perception that the US government’s purpose in prosecuting Mr Assange was “to hide the wrongdoing of state agents rather than to protect national security”.