The draconian Belmarsh supermax regime is a tried and tested program the British national security state has used to break dissidents that threaten their power.
In 1997-98, MI6 whistleblower Richard Tomlinson spent 6 months in Belmarsh for giving the summary outline of a book to an Australian publisher. He writes about it in his book Big Breach. You can read the relevant section from page 173 onwards here:
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Tomlinson says MI6 were adamant he shouldn’t get bail because they wanted to pressure him into a guilty plea. They even got him designated a Category A prisoner at Belmarsh, Tomlinson says. The pressure eventually worked. He pled guilty.
So many parallels with how Assange has been treated. Even the stopping ability to shave which led Assange to being grabbed from embassy with that beard. Tomlinson says they did same “demeaning little ploy” to him to ensure he “looked as disreputable as possible”. Excerpt below.
In 2002, MI5 whistleblower David Shayler was jailed for six months and put in Belmarsh before later being transferred to a different prison. But this experience contributed towards Shayler suffering a severe mental breakdown.
The scary thing is what kind of judicial system appears to allow its conduct to be guided by the whims of the secret services? Frightening connotations.
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