Andrew Hankinson

Is Julian Assange on a hiding to nothing?

A dark question looms over Nils Melzer’s two-year investigation: is suicide preferable to the wrath of publicly shamed America?

Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, February 2016. [Getty Images]
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  • The Trial of Julian Assange: A Story of Persecution

    Nils Melzer

    Verso, pp. 333, £20

A question looms throughout this book: is it better to die rather than experience the wrath of a publicly shamed America?

The story begins in 2018 when Nils Melzer, a UN Special Rapporteur on torture, received an email: ‘Julian Assange is seeking your protection.’ Melzer’s office receives approximately 50 requests for help each week, and he was initially dismissive of this one.

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