HOW anyone can see the arrest of Julian Assange in London as anything other than an affront to human decency is beyond me. Here is a whistleblower par excellence who should be in line for a Nobel prize but is instead in a British criminal court facing extradition to the US for revealing what many will regard as state sponsored war crimes. This present UK Westminster administration has numerous iniquities to its name, not least its armaments supply role in the massacres of civilians in Yemen, but glorying in the arrest of Mr Assange must come near the top of its infamy list.
If mankind has any moral credence left then those who are willing and able to put a beam of light on conduct by countries that violates human rights, international codes of conduct, and general standards of civilized behaviour, must be seen as worthy individuals who deserve to be rewarded and most assuredly not punished. Little wonder the US decided not to be a member of the International Criminal Court, but instead to be a loud inciter for other nations to be prosecuted by that same body. As for the UK carrying out America's "dirty work" this is what their treatment of Julian Assange in London amounts to.
America has to be better than this. There has to be many Americans who are better than this. It would be refreshing to see their views represented here in the UK along with fellow UK folk who don't share this Westminster government's joy in Mr Assange's arrest.
Ian Johnstone,
Forman Drive, Peterhead.
Roadside blight
I WHOLLY agree with Roseanne Cunningham in her bid to introduce legislation to deal with the louts who litter our roadsides ("Litter louts face tougher measures”, The Herald April 4). This antisocial behaviour has been a blight in our cities, towns and countryside for years.
A recent walk along part of National Cycle Route 74 (the River Avon Way) passing between Stonehouse and Larkhall is the worst example of this I have seen in years of walking the byways of this country. The situation is so bad I doubt it will ever be resolved.
Clearly in the minds of these louts is the belief that adding further litter to an already-littered roadside will not be noticed. So it is necessary to start with clean roadsides and verges and then to aggressively police any infractions of the proposed legislation. Otherwise, I fear this noble Government intention will be no more than mere words. The effecting of roadside clean-ups will no doubt fall to local councils who will plead austerity cuts and budget constraints. The result will be the status quo.
On the positive side many of the plastic bottles I saw had contained low-calorie drinks, so at least one message is getting through.
GR Gray,
6 Calderwood Road, Glasgow.
Capital offence
HOW depressing to read a report of an SNH study of Scotland’s “natural capital” ("Why we are reaping the benefits of nation’s improving natural capital", The Herald, April 10). We are now accustomed to people, our fellows, even children, being reduced in policy terms to “human capital”. However, it does still grate to hear of our landscape, our environment, being squalidly dubbed “natural capital”, presumably so that, like people, every penny of profit must be wrung from it until, eventually, there is nothing left to wring.
Donald Gillies,
51 Airthrey Avenue, Glasgow.
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