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The US charge should obviously be thrown out. Difficult cases make bad precedents and all that. But this guy isn't really doing Assange any favours, as far as

by xkemp 7y ago

The US charge should obviously be thrown out. Difficult cases make bad precedents and all that. But this guy isn't really doing Assange any favours, as far as I can tell. He's claiming the imprisonment in Britain amounts to torture, which makes his take somewhat suspect. Britain is an established democracy. They tend not to torture people. If Assange's various psychological conditions are worsening, I do expect them to provide medical help. But you don't get to just claim that you're too delicate for prison. Oh, and he's also claiming the Swedish prosecution was made up, some vast conspiracy. Most people would consider that ludicrous and yet another mistreatment of the victim. And even people willing to believe that theory would probably agree that there just isn't any evidence for it, and it's not a good look for a UN official to claim it as fact.

k1m 7y ago
> But you don't get to just claim that you're too delicate for prison. Assange is not the one making the claim. Here's a recent in-depth interview with the UN expert Nils Melzer which goes into a lot more detail: https://www.republik.ch/2020/01/31/nils-melzer-about-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange https://www.republik.ch/2020/01/31/nils-melzer-about-wikilea... Nils Melzer: "Julian Assange has been intentionally psychologically tortured by Sweden, Britain, Ecuador and the U.S. First through the highly arbitrary handling of proceedings against him. The way Sweden pursued the case, with active assistance from Britain, was aimed at putting him under pressure and trapping him in the embassy. Sweden was never interested in finding the truth and helping these women, but in pushing Assange into a corner. It has been an abuse of judicial processes aimed at pushing a person into a position where he is unable to defend himself. On top of that come the surveillance measures, the insults, the indignities and the attacks by politicians from these countries, up to and including death threats. This constant abuse of state power has triggered serious stress and anxiety in Assange and has resulted in measurable cognitive and neurological harm. I visited Assange in his cell in London in May 2019 together with two experienced, widely respected doctors who are specialized in the forensic and psychological examination of torture victims. The diagnosis arrived at by the two doctors was clear: Julian Assange displays the typical symptoms of psychological torture. If he doesn’t receive protection soon, a rapid deterioration of his health is likely, and death could be one outcome."

by xkemp 7y ago

k1m 7y ago

> But you don't get to just claim that you're too delicate for prison. Assange is not the one making the claim. Here's a recent in-depth interview with the UN expert Nils Melzer which goes into a lot more detail: https://www.republik.ch/2020/01/31/nils-melzer-about-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange https://www.republik.ch/2020/01/31/nils-melzer-about-wikilea... Nils Melzer: "Julian Assange has been intentionally psychologically tortured by Sweden, Britain, Ecuador and the U.S. First through the highly arbitrary handling of proceedings against him. The way Sweden pursued the case, with active assistance from Britain, was aimed at putting him under pressure and trapping him in the embassy. Sweden was never interested in finding the truth and helping these women, but in pushing Assange into a corner. It has been an abuse of judicial processes aimed at pushing a person into a position where he is unable to defend himself. On top of that come the surveillance measures, the insults, the indignities and the attacks by politicians from these countries, up to and including death threats. This constant abuse of state power has triggered serious stress and anxiety in Assange and has resulted in measurable cognitive and neurological harm. I visited Assange in his cell in London in May 2019 together with two experienced, widely respected doctors who are specialized in the forensic and psychological examination of torture victims. The diagnosis arrived at by the two doctors was clear: Julian Assange displays the typical symptoms of psychological torture. If he doesn’t receive protection soon, a rapid deterioration of his health is likely, and death could be one outcome."