UN torture expert on Julian Assange's persecution and the lies behind it

Pushback with Aaron Mate

Pushback with Aaron Maté

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4.7 • 594 Ratings

🗓️ 10 January 2021

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate A UK judge has rejected a US attempt to extradite Julian Assange, citing the Wikileaks' founder's risk of suicide and the poor conditions of US prisons. But Judge Vanessa Baraitser accepted the basis for the US government's espionage case against Assange and ruled against releasing him on bail. Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, discusses the longstanding persecution of Assange and the lies that have been used to justify it to the public. Melzer, who has visited Assange in prison, has played a critical role in exposing the deception surrounding Assange's initial Sweden extradition case. "Based on 20 years of experiences of visiting prisoners, many of whom are being exposed to to extremely severe conditions including ill treatment, it is a miracle that this man is still alive," Melzer says. Guest: Nils Melzer. UN Special Rapporteur on torture and Professor of International Law at the University of Glasgow.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Pushback. I'm Erin Mate. A British judge has refused to release Julian Assange on bail.
0:12.0	One day after ruling that he cannot be extradited to the US.
0:18.0	This is a huge disappointment. Julian should not be in Belmarge prison in the first place
0:23.5	I urge the Department of Justice to drop the charges and the President of the
0:30.1	United States to pardon Julian, joining me is Niels Meltzer.
0:42.3	He is the UN special rapporteur on torture
0:45.3	and a professor of international law at the University of Glasgow.
0:49.3	Professor Melzer, welcome to pushback.
0:52.3	Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.
0:55.8	You have visited Julian Assange in Belmarsh.
0:59.3	What is your reaction to the judge ruling against his extradition on mental health grounds
1:05.4	and based on the dangers of the U.S. prison system, but then the following day, saying that still,
1:11.7	Julian Assange cannot be released on bail.
1:16.5	Well, clearly, I mean, I can only welcome the decision not to extradite him.
1:20.9	I mean, all along since his arrest, and even before that, in April 2019, I have called on, first, in Ecuador not to expel him
1:33.3	from the embassy and then on Britain not to extrad him to the U.S., precisely based on my concerns
1:39.3	about the detention conditions that he would likely be exposed to, that are widely recognized to be contrary to the Convention Against Torture.
1:48.0	And so I can only welcome that and I certainly share the assessment of the judge that his exposure to these types of detention conditions would very likely lead him to commit suicide.
2:05.6	He had actually confirmed to me when I visited him in prison that he would not be extradited
2:10.6	to the U.S. alive.
2:12.6	And so that being said, the judgment in itself is a very dangerous precedent.
2:21.4	It actually confirms all the points of law, the whole rationale that underlies the U.S.
	...

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