Craig Murray calls Julian Assange “the world’s most important political prisoner” and reminds us that:

In imprisoning Assange for bail violation, the UK was in clear defiance of the judgement of the UN Working Group on arbitrary Detention

And after that, a British judge appears to have jailed Assange indefinitely, despite end of prison sentence, so Assange can be extradited to the USA. A Swedish appeal for Assange (also available in English) quotes Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment:

In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political persecution I have never seen a group of democratic States ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonize and abuse a single individual for such a long time and with so little regard for human dignity and the rule of law.…

The evidence made available to me strongly suggests that the primary responsibility for the sustained and concerted abuse inflicted on Mr Assange falls on the governments of the United Kingdom, Sweden, the United States and, more recently, also Ecuador. Accordingly, these governments would be responsible jointly for the foreseeable cumulative effect of their conduct, but also each of them separately for their respective contributions, whether through direct perpetration, instigation, consent, or acquiescence.…

For that, Melzer is also smeared. Read Not in My Name by Suzie Dawson.

Michelle Wood asks: Is Orwell’s Ministry of Truth Alive?