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Craig Murray of Information Clearing House writes about his observation at Westminster Magistrates Court:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/52433.htm
Before I get on to the blatant lack of fair process, the first thing I must note was Julian's condition. I was badly shocked by just how much weight my friend has lost, by the speed his hair has receded and by the appearance of premature and vastly accelerated ageing. He has a pronounced limp I have never seen before. Since his arrest he has lost over 15 kg in weight.
But his physical appearance was not as shocking as his mental deterioration. When asked to give his name and date of birth, he struggled visibly over several seconds to recall both. I will come to the important content of his statement at the end of proceedings in due course, but his difficulty in making it was very evident; it was a real struggle for him to articulate the words and focus his train of thought.
Until yesterday I had always been quietly sceptical of those who claimed that Julian's treatment amounted to torture – even of Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture – and sceptical of those who suggested he may be subject to debilitating drug treatments. But having attended the trials in Uzbekistan of several victims of extreme torture, and having worked with survivors from Sierra Leone and elsewhere, I can tell you that yesterday changed my mind entirely and Julian exhibited exactly the symptoms of a torture victim brought blinking into the light, particularly in terms of disorientation, confusion, and the real struggle to assert free will through the fog of learned helplessness.
I had been even more sceptical of those who claimed, as a senior member of his legal team did to me on Sunday night, that they were worried that Julian might not live to the end of the extradition process. I now find myself not only believing it, but haunted by the thought. Everybody in that court yesterday saw that one of the greatest journalists and most important dissidents of our times is being tortured to death by the state, before our eyes. To see my friend, the most articulate man, the fastest thinker, I have ever known, reduced to that shambling and incoherent wreck, was unbearable. Yet the agents of the state, particularly the callous magistrate Vanessa Baraitser, were not just prepared but eager to be a part of this bloodsport. She actually told him that if he were incapable of following proceedings, then his lawyers could explain what had happened to him later. The question of why a man who, by the very charges against him, was acknowledged to be highly intelligent and competent, had been reduced by the state to somebody incapable of following court proceedings, gave her not a millisecond of concern.
Now tell me some fine arguments justifying the legality and justness of such person destruction methodics, I wish to hear them.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Nuke on Tuesday October 29 2019, @12:03AM (8 children)
The legality is that he is in a British prison for jumping bail granted by a British court. There cannot be any argument about that, and jumping bail is a serious offence by anyone, and there is no reason for Assange to be given special treatment.
As for being ill, that is not a reason to release someone from prison. People do get ill in prison as they do outside, and they get treatment by prison doctors - any evidence that Assange is not getting medical attention? I very much doubt that the UK government would want the embarassment of Assange dying in prison, so they will do thier best to keep him alive.
It is not a magistrate's job to be a mental health nurse to anyone. She was correct to follow procedure and leave it to his lawyers to act for him if he was incapable of doing so himself - that is what your own lawers are for. WTF do people expect the magistrate to do? For those who don't know, a magistrate is quite a junior figure in the UK judicial system, cetainly not with powers of releasing someone from a prison sentence whatever they feel about it personally.
Assange is losing hair; so am I. Plenty of men lose hair because of stressful jobs. Assange opted for a particularly stressful line of work with Wikileaks, and while he might not have forseen this particular outcome, anyone could have seen that it was going to be a bumpy ride one way or another. If he was not prepared to suck it up, and have the mental and physical stamina for it, then he should have run a website about crossword puzzles instead.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 29 2019, @01:54AM (1 child)
"Here, have an aspirin and don't fucking die and embarrass us, you hear? I'll let your lawyer to explain to you what to do with that aspirin."
Just from curiosity, what's your explanation for Assange's torture-like symptoms, in spite of the good (prison) doctors offered by the benevolent (but slightly offended) UK govt?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Sally_G on Tuesday October 29 2019, @06:20AM
Living in near isolation, and surrounded by people who are hostile to him, for years. Now that he has lost his fight to avoid extradition hearings, he has basically given up, and lost hope. If asked, Julian would probably say that he is a walking dead man.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Sally_G on Tuesday October 29 2019, @04:01AM
No, the magistrate can't turn Assange loose. But, she could have postponed the hearing, and instructed all concerned to get Assange whatever medical and/or mental help he needed. Kowtowing to those fine gentlemen "in the back" is most certainly not her job.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by driverless on Tuesday October 29 2019, @04:29AM (1 child)
Not just that, look at the writeup:
And it gets even crazier after that. I think I'll wait to hear reports from some sort of vaguely credible source before I decide whether I need to get outraged or not.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 29 2019, @05:08AM
*Sigh of relief* - your outrage (or the lack thereof) has so much impact on this world that I thanks $DEITIES you refrained from a hasty decision.
(point: yes, it's OK to wait for more information if you need to make your mind, but the reality is that your reaction is already inconsequential for the world, even more so in the future.
The way you put it implies outrage is the only reaction anyone can naturally have, and that everybody who chose to believe the available news are just prematurely outraged. "Oh, silly them! (then, pointing to the strawman): See how much better I am?"
Your badly disguised air of superiority pisses me off).
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 29 2019, @07:23AM
Yes, and Jeffrey Epstein killed himself...
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 29 2019, @07:43AM
Of course Mr Assange isnt getting special treatment, it's quite normal for bail jumpers to end up in solitary confinement at Belmarsh...
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Tuesday October 29 2019, @12:56PM
Ironically, he would have had a better chance before the US courts before Trump stacked the Supreme Court. Now? Screwed.
Then again, he would also have been better off fighting the rape charges - except that surreptitiously removing your condom during sex (aka "stealthing") IS sexual assault.
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