Strasbourg, France - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will make his first public statements since he was released from prison in June when he addresses the Council of Europe in France next week.

Assange will be in Strasbourg Tuesday to give evidence to the committee on legal affairs and human rights, part of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The appearance follows the publication of a report by the parliamentary assembly into Assange's five-year detention in London's notorious Belmarsh Prison. He had previously spent seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after requesting asylum.

In a statement, WikiLeaks said: "The report confirms that Assange qualifies as a political prisoner and calls on the UK conduct an independent review into whether he was exposed to inhuman or degrading treatment."

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"The report discusses how governments employ both legal and extralegal measures to suppress dissent across borders, which poses significant threats to press freedom and human rights."

WikiLeaks revealed Assange was "in recovery" having returned to his native Australia on his release.

At the time, his wife Stella said he needed time to "rediscover freedom" and recuperate before speaking publicly at a "time of his choosing."

He will attend the hearing in France "due to the exceptional nature of the invitation and to embrace the support received from PACE and its delegates," the WikiLeaks statement said.

Assange regained his freedom in June after attending a court appearance before a judge in the US territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, where he pleaded guilty to a single charge after the US dropped 17 other espionage counts against him.

Because of the five years he has spent in Belmarsh Prison, mainly in solitary confinement, he was told he was free to leave.

He had flown to Saipan from the UK via Bangkok after a plea deal which brought to an end the US government's pursuit of a publisher whose website made him a hero to press freedom advocates for exposing horrific misdeeds and possible war crimes committed by the US in its wars abroad.