UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer, about the case of Julian Assange

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For the first time, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer, speaks in detail about the explosive findings of his investigation into the case of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Les hele reportasjen i Republik.

Saken er dessverre gammel, men fremdeles høyst aktuell. Sterke saker, og viktig.

Let’s see where we will be in 20 years if Assange is convicted – what you will still be able to write then as a journalist. I am convinced that we are in serious danger of losing press freedoms.

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In order for the division of powers to work, the state must be monitored by the press as the fourth estate. WikiLeaks is a the (sic) logical consequence of an ongoing process of expanded secrecy.
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As the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and, before that, as a Red Cross delegate, I have seen lots of horrors and violence and have seen how quickly peaceful countries like Yugoslavia or Rwanda can transform into infernos. At the roots of such developments are always a lack of transparency and unbridled political or economic power combined with the naivete, indifference and malleability of the population. Suddenly, that which always happened to the other – unpunished torture, rape, expulsion and murder – can just as easily happen to us or our children. And nobody will care. I can promise you that.

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