Law and Crime Prevention

Julian Assange is being held in high security Belmarsh Prison in southeast London (not pictured).
Unsplash/Ashley Ross

UN independent expert asks outgoing US president: Pardon Wikileaks’ Assange

22 December 2020
Americas

In an open letter to Donald Trump on Tuesday, an independent UN human rights expert asked the departing United States President to pardon Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. 

Ten years after his first arrest, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange remains in prison.
Unsplash/Markus Spiske

Independent UN expert calls for Julian Assange’s release, cites prison’s COVID outbreak

8 December 2020
Europe

Amid a COVID-19 outbreak at London’s Belmarsh prison, an independent UN expert appealed to British authorities on Tuesday to release Julian Assange or to place him under guarded house arrest during extradition proceedings to the United States.  

An industrial hemp field in Pitomača, Croatia.
Unsplash/David Gabrić

UN commission reclassifies cannabis, yet still considered harmful

2 December 2020
Global

In reviewing a series of World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on cannabis and its derivatives, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) zeroed-in on the decision to remove cannabis from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs — where it was listed alongside specific deadly, addictive opioids, including heroin, recognized as having little to no therapeutic purposes.