STEVE ANDREW enjoys an account of the many communities that flourished independently of and in resistance to the empires of old
Latest editorial
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
TOM STONE urges you to catch the last dates of a New York singer/songwriter, never afraid to challenge her audiences musically or politically
JAN WOOLF examines work that aims to give viewers a material experience of the environments in the polar north and Britain equally affected by the climate crisis
The bard recalls advice received 50 years ago from his TRB muse, and sorts out appropriate legislation for football club ownership
MICHAL BONCZA and MARIA DUARTE review Facing War, Kontinental ’25, Bugonia, and Relay
MAYER WAKEFIELD is frustrated by a production of Ibsen’s classic study of an anti-heroine that fails to elucidate her motivations
PETER MASON tunes his ear into the domestic affairs of a Carribbean couple with a troublesome son
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.”
Similar stories
Though justice for Israel’s war crimes may be delayed, as long as there are pursuers like the Hind Rajab Foundation, it will someday be attained, argues RAMZY BAROUD
The Morning Star sorts the good eggs from the rotten scoundrels of the year
The veteran ocean defender, a founding member of both Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace, is under arrest in Greenland and faces extradition to Japan for protecting whales — but the world outcry isn’t there, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER