Julian Assange says 2012 a 'huge' year for WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assangeemerged Thursdayto speak fromthe balcony of theEcuadorean Embassy in London, where he took refuge six months ago while facing possible extradition to Sweden for alleged sexual misconduct.

Inwhat's beinglabelled as Assange's Christmas address, the 41-year-old spoke publicly for only the second time since June when he entered the foreign embassy to avoid arrest.

"While my freedom is limited, at least I am still able to communicate this Christmas, unlike the 232 journalists who are in jail [worldwide] tonight," Assange said, adding that many of their plights are linked to his.

• Julian Assange: the man behind WikiLeaks

Reading from a prepared speech, Assange called 2012 a "huge" year for WikiLeaks and said his organization had dumpedone million documents on the internet, some related to the civil war in Syria.

"We have exposed the mass surveillance state and hundreds of documents from private intelligence companies," Assange said.

Showing no sign of slowing down, Assange said his organization was preparing another million documents that will be released in 2013.

"True democracy is the resistance of people armed with the truth against lies from Tahrir to right here in London," he said.

The Australian-born Assangehas exhausted all legal means in the British courtsover the past two years to fight his extradition before eventually reaching an agreement with Ecuadorto take refugeindefinitelyinside the embassy.

He is wanted for questioningby Swedish authorities for allegations he sexually assaulted two womenduringa trip to the Scandinavian country in 2010, a claim he denies.

Assange has long claimed his extradition could lead to himbeing handed over to U.S. authorities, and punished for the quarter million U.S. Embassy cables dumped on his website in 2010thatnegatively framed thebackroom dealings of American diplomats.