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Gifts from The Morning Star
Secrecy, impunity and arbitrariness
Melzer, an experienced and prestigious international lawyer, destroys the various narratives surrounding Assange
Stella Moris, the partner of Julian Assange, speaks to the media outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Monday January 24 2022

The Trial of Julian Assange. A Story of Persecution London
by Nils Melzer
Verso £20

 

THIS is a remarkable book by a remarkable man, who has travelled a remarkable personal journey. While the book’s title is The Trial of Julian Assange, a key element tracks how Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, was himself tested: he was not found wanting.

In December 2018 Assange’s legal team asked Melzer to investigate the conditions under which Assange was held in the Ecuadorean embassy. Melzer dismissed the email because he “was overtaken by a host of disparaging thoughts and almost reflexive feelings of rejection. Assange? No, I certainly would not be manipulated by this guy.”

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