Nazir Afzal OBE: Liberty Lecture
In this special episode of the Opera North Podcast, recorded in the Howard Assembly Room in February 2022, Nazir Afzal OBE expands on his critically-acclaimed memoir, The Prosecutor, looking back on his his childhood and some watershed moments over the course of his illustrious career.
Nazir Afzal OBE was Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West England and formerly Director in London. Most recently, he was Chief Executive of the country’s Police & Crime Commissioners. During a 24-year career, he prosecuted some of the most high profile cases in the country and advised on many other and led nationally on several legal topics including Violence against Women and Girls, child sexual abuse, and honour-based violence.
He had responsibility for more than 100,000 other prosecutions each year. His prosecutions of the so-called Rochdale grooming gang, BBC presenter Stuart Hall and hundreds of others were groundbreaking and drove the work that has changed the landscape of child protection. He was appointed to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). He is also National Adviser on Gender-Based Violence to the Welsh Government. Most recently he joined the advisory board of Google’s Innovation Fund for counter-extremism.
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Liberty Lectures are part of Opera North’s groundbreaking DARE programme in association with the University of Leeds.
