- Stella Moris: Why Julian Assange must urgently be freed Archived Message
Posted by sashimi
on May 2, 2020, 4:44 am
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(quote) The life of my partner, Julian Assange, is at severe risk. He is on remand at HMP Belmarsh, and Covid-19 is spreading within its walls. Julian and I have two little boys. Since becoming a mother, I have been reflecting on my own childhood. My parents are European, but when I was little we lived in Botswana, five miles from the border with Apartheid South Africa. Many of my parents' friends came from across the border: writers, painters, conscientious objectors. It was an unlikely centre for artistic creativity and intellectual exchange. The history books describe Apartheid as institutional segregation, but it was much more than that. Segregation occurred in broad daylight. The abductions, torture and killings occurred at night. The foundations of the Apartheid system were precarious, so the regime met ideas of political reform with live ammunition. In June 1985, South African assassination squads crossed the border armed with machine guns, mortars and grenades. As soon as gunfire burst into the night, my parents wrapped me in a blanket. I slept as my parents raced the car to safety. The sound of explosions carried through the capital for the hour and a half that it took to kill twelve people. The first person to be killed was a very close family friend, an exceptional painter. South Africa claimed the raid had targeted the armed wing of the ANC, but in reality most of the victims were innocent civilians and children killed as they lay sleeping in bed. We left Botswana within days. I have absorbed my parents' vivid memories of the raid. If that terrible night shaped my perspective of the world, the incarceration of the father of my children will surely mark theirs. Forming a family with Julian under the circumstances was always going to be difficult, but our hopes eclipsed our fears. Initially, Julian and I managed to carve out a space[1] for a private life. Our firstborn visited with the help of a friend. But when Gabriel was six months old, an embassy security contractor confessed to me that he had been told to steal the baby's DNA[2] through a nappy. Failing that they would take the baby's pacifier. The whistleblower warned me Gabriel should not come into the embassy anymore. It was not safe. I realised that all the precautions I had taken, from piling layers on to disguise my bump to changing my name, would not protect us. We were totally exposed. These forces operated in a legal and ethical vacuum that engulfed us. Visible Links: [1] - https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2019/04/14/inenglish/1555239431_083712.html [2] - https://english.elpais.com/international/2020-04-15/spanish-firm-that-spied-on-julian-assange-tried-to-find-out-if-he-fathered-a-child-at-ecuadorian-embassy.html (/quote) Cont'd at: https://english.elpais.com/spanish_news/2020-05-01/why-julian-assange-must-urgently-be-freed.html |
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