The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Sebastian, Four Mothers, Restless, and The Most Precious of Cargoes
Secrecy, impunity and arbitrariness
Melzer, an experienced and prestigious international lawyer, destroys the various narratives surrounding Assange

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.”
More from this author

For Britain, direct military aid is just the tip of the iceberg compared to the spiralling energy crisis that has fueled inflation, driven millions into fuel poverty and inflated corporate profits, reveals HELEN MERCER

HELEN MERCER welcomes an account of how US labour leadership collaborated with the state and betrayed their membership

A look at the writing of war correspondent James Aldridge 40 years ago reminds us of the eastern perspective when a second front was finally opened on D-Day, 1944, says HELEN MERCER

HELEN MERCER casts an experienced eye over an ambitious exhibition that nevertheless contains painful gaps