Russia does not have a functioning criminal justice system at all, in the sense of a trial mechanism aimed at determining innocence or guilt. Exactly as in Uzbekistan, the conviction rate in criminal trials is over 99%. If the prosecutors, who are inextricably an arm of the executive government, want to send you to jail, there is absolutely no judicial system to protect you. The judges are purely there for show.
When critics of Putin like Alexei Navalny are convicted, therefore, we have absolutely no reassurance that the motivation behind the prosecution or the assessment of guilt was genuine. Which is not to say that Navalny is innocent; I am in no position to judge. People are complex. I sacrificed my own pretty decent career to the cause of human rights, but in my personal and family life I was by no means the most moral of individuals. I see no reason for it to be impossible that all of Navalny’s excellent political work did not co-exist with a fatal weakness. But his criticisms of Putin made him a marked man, who the state was out to get, and the most probable explanation – especially as prosecutors had looked at the allegations before and decided not to proceed – is that he is suffering for his criticisms of the President rather than a genuine offence.
It fascinates me that the Western media view the previous decision by the prosecutors not to proceed as evidence the case is politically motivated against Navalny; but fail to draw the same conclusion from precisely the same circumstance in the Assange case.
David Ward MP has not been sent to jail. He has however had the Lib Dem whip removed, which under Clegg’s leadership perhaps he ought to consider an honour. It is rather a commonplace sentiment that it is a terribly sad thing, that their community having suffered dreadfully in the Holocaust, the European Jews involved in founding the state of Israel went on themselves to inflict terrible pain and devastation on the Palestinians in the Nakba. Both the Holocaust and the Nakba were horrific events of human suffering. For this not startling observation, David Ward is removed from the Liberal Democrats. He also stated that, with its ever increasing number of racially specific laws, its walls and racially restricted roads, Israel is becoming an apartheid state. That is so commonplace even Sky News’ security correspondent Sam Kiley said it a few months ago, without repercussion. In Russia you cannot say Putin is corrupt; in the UK you cannot say Israeli state policy is malign. Neither national state can claim to uphold freedom of speech. Meanwhile, of course, David Cameron announces plans to place filters on the internet access of all UK households.
In the United States, the House of Representatives failed by just 12 votes to make illegal the mass snooping by the NSA which was not widely publicised until Edward Snowden’s revelations. What Snowden said was so important that almost half the country’s legislators wished to act on his information. Yet the executive wish to pursue him and remove all his freedom for the rest of his life, as they are doing to Bradley Manning for Manning’s exposure of war crimes and extreme duplicity.
Around this complex of issues and the persons of Manning, Navalny, Snowden and Assange there is a kind of new ideological competition between the governments of Russia, the US and UK as to which is truly promoting the values of human freedom. The answer is none of them are. All these states are, largely in reaction to the liberating possibilities of the internet, promoting a concerted attack on freedom of speech and liberty of thought.
States are the enemy. We are the people.
Anyone who has actually been through an atos interview knows that it depends on the quality/capacity of the person/ real human being who does the ‘assessment’. Sometimes one encounters … on other occasions one is faced with …
Sorry.
Stupid post regarding “Vulnerability”.
A social science worthy of utmost attention.
As seen or heard on a daily basis our vulnerable should be portrayed as the helped not the helpless.
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/researchethics/4-2-understandings.html
Being Liberal should also mean being selective, having a liberal account but remaining bias!
Something Liberal leader Campbell-Bannerman would have us proud.
Arbed, 27 Jul 3.16p
Excellent work as usual, Arbed. I suppose a plausible explanation of Wilen’s behaviour is that when she discovered that Assange’s intimate company was not exclusively hers, she decided to do a little research on Ardin to check out the competition. In her research, Wilen found Ardin’s ‘7 Steps to Legal Revenge’ page, took inspiration and decided to make contact with Ardin. What followed was a clumsy, but effective mission in character assasination that found political allies in the US-friendly Swedish establishment.
Theresa May has type 1 diabetes meaning she will have to inject herself twice daily with insulin. But she is still free to inflict whatever injustices suits her racist whims.
Talha Ahsan has Asberger Syndrome. She sent him to a US Supermax prison to be held 23 hours a day in solitary confinement at the request of her US masters. I am still trying to find out why a UK citizen could be held in a UK prison for six years without charge or trial and what he has allegedly done to warrant this torture, and whether any requests were made for him to be held in a less severe penal institution due to his medical condition. The FCO has failed to respond even though by law they should have done so by 9th July. Meanwhile Talha Ahsan has had his trial date delayed for six months. It appals me.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/extradition_of_talha_ahsan#outgoing-287912
The anger is coming from the producers and retailers of luxury goods! Visitors from India, Nigeria, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh will be affected.
July 26, 2013 8:36 pm
UK to pilot £3,000 tourist bond despite anger
By Elizabeth Rigby and Elizabeth Paton
Britain is pressing ahead with its trial of a scheme to make visitors from six countries pay a £3,000 bond, despite an international backlash and complaints from businesses.
The government said it would begin a pilot in November to impose visa restrictions on six Commonwealth nations, including India and Nigeria, even though David Cameron poured cold water on the scheme in June after it provoked uproar in Delhi.
Luxury goods retailers have denounced the plan as an “insulting deterrent” to wealthy tourists, which will hit sales and damage London’s reputation. They are urging the government to drop the pilot, saying the restrictions will damage their business if Commonwealth tourists – particularly Nigerians, now the sixth biggest spenders on luxury goods in the UK – are put off.
“It’s embarrassing that our country would consider these measures against visitors who spend so much in our stores,” said Michael Ward, managing director of Harrods. “There seems to be a deeply frustrating attitude in Westminster that they should do whatever they can to actively prevent people coming to the UK.”
/..
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fba7dc0a-f609-11e2-a55d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2aKHWbLcH
John Goss I am greatly admiring of your assiduousness and activism for human rights. Inspirational.
As previously reported, US AG Eric Holder promises not to call for the death penalty or to torture Edward Snowden is he returns to the US.
viz
July 26, 2013 5:25 pm
US tells Russia Snowden will not be tortured
By Anna Fifield in Washington
The Obama administration has assured the Russian government that Edward Snowden will not be tortured or face the death penalty if he returns to the US in a bid to counteract the national security leaker’s claim for temporary asylum.
Mr Snowden, the contractor turned whistleblower who has been holed up in the transit zone of a Moscow airport for more than a month, has filed papers asking for temporary asylum in Russia, saying he would be tortured or could be executed if he were returned to the US, which has cancelled his passport.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/12ccbc5e-f60d-11e2-a55d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2aKHWbLcH
~~
Dave Lindorff writes:
A Shameful Day to Be a US Citizen
AG Holder promises Russia not to torture Snowden
July 27th, 2013
I have been deeply ashamed of my country a number of times. The Nixon Christmas bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong was one such time, when hospitals, schools and dikes were targeted. The invasion of Iraq was another. Washington’s silence over the fatal Israeli Commando raid on the Gaza Peace Flotilla–in which a 19-year-old unarmed American boy was murdered–was a third. But I think I have never been as ashamed and disgusted as I was today reading that US Attorney General Eric Holder had sent a letter to the Russian minister of justice saying that the US would “not seek the death penalty” in its espionage case against National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, promising that even if the US later brought added charges against Snowden after obtaining him, they would not include any death penalty, and vowing that if Snowden were handed over by Russia to the US, he would “not be tortured.”
So it has come to this: That the United States has to promise (to Russia!) that it will not torture a prisoner in its control — a US citizen at that — and so therefore that person, Edward Snowden, has no basis for claiming that he should be “treated as a refugee or granted asylum.”
/..
http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/07/a-shameful-day-to-be-a-us-citizen/
Someone, 27 Jul 9.41p
Re British Muslims donating more to charity than Jews, Christians etc
From Someone’s (no relation) link –
“The donations went to various Islamic-oriented charities, including Muslim Aid, Islamic Relief and the Zakat Trust. Muslims also donate to individual mosques and earmark sums of money to non-Islamic causes. In 2010, Muslims in Manchester donated $79,831 to develop a United Reformed Church building in a rundown part of the city.”
. . . .
From http://www.wyldegreenurc.org.uk/press_archive.htm
“[United Reformed] Church Minister, Ken Chippindale explained: It was a wonderful privilege to be able to host the Islamic Festival of Eid in our church halls. We were joined by Christians from churches all over Sutton, showing our commitment to learn more about each other and live together peacefully. Many new friendships were formed and the feast provided by our Muslim friends was enjoyed by all.”
. . . .
So it’s not hard to see that donations were not just to “charities” but to organisations that promote Islam and the interests of Muslims.
Is that what charity is all about?
Better late than never, the BMA write to Obama on force feeding at Guantanamo.
BMA urges Obama to stop doctors force-feeding Guantánamo prisoners
Global drug companies are told practice is ‘a gross violation of internationally accepted standards of medical ethics’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/27/bma-says-end-guantanamo-force-feeding
Thanks for the support Flaming June. Striving for justice sometimes feels like a lonely pursuit, though I know others, especially who comment on this blog, together with Craig who inspires us all, are engaged in long-term battles with the power-mongers.
@Jemand. 9 42am
Thanks for the link showing some christians demonstrating “commitment to learn more about each other and live together peacefully.”
You lose me though when you go on… “So it’s not hard to see that donations were not just to “charities” but to organisations that promote Islam and the interests of Muslims. Is that what charity is all about?”
Surely the same could surely be said for many Jewish, Christian and
other donators. Would that invalidate their acts of mutual aid?
BTW thanks for acknowledging Arbed’s tireless work on the Assange theme. I’d like to second that. John Goss too. You’re an inspiration guys/guyesses.
Good News! Or do I need to pinch myself?
“There is no military solution to Syria. There is only a political solution, and that will require leadership in order to bring people to the table,” John Kerry
Fingers crossed he means it.
The big question would be, “Which people?”
Re Kerry post:
“it”
Sorry. An easy link to miss.
Was IT this Sofia?
Syrian rebels press US to send weapons fast, Kerry sees no military solution to crisis
http://rt.com/news/syria-rebels-us-weapons-617/
Perhaps at last it’s dawning on the Americans when they look around at the ME and, in particular, Libya, Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan and now Syria that their warmongering has not achieved anything except death and destruction, mayhem and massive displacements of people.
Of course, this ignores what has happened to the Palestinians with the US support of Israel with $billions and weaponry.
Yes Flaming.
That was “IT”
I do hope,for the sake of all the people of Syria that the US will break it’s habit of pouring petrol on the flames and seriously engage in some peace-mongering.
Just in case you missed it the first four times folks.
http://rt.com/news/syria-rebels-us-weapons-617/
Well, I reckon you can’t get too much peace-making.
And while the US is about it, how about regaining some credibility by ceasing to arm the rogue state of Israel until it demonstrates the will and ability to control it’s destructive and expansionist urges?
Sofia KN, yes it can be said for many claims of Christian and Jewish “charity” although I didn’t notice any comments on this page purporting that Cs and Js were particularly generous. As for the spirit of “charity”, I thought it was about giving to others, not oneself or ones own kind, whatever “kind” that is.
More..
Sofia KN, how would it look if white South Africans were shown to be extraordinarily generous to charities if it turned out that those charities were almost exclusively for the benefit of white people in need? You can bet your last dollar that it would arouse howls of derision, here on this blog and elsewhere.
@Jemand. 12:04 pm
“…I didn’t notice any comments on this page purporting that Cs and Js were particularly generous…”
Not exactly, but when I quote Kropotkyn,
“…The mutual-aid tendency in man has so remote an origin, and is so deeply interwoven with all the past evolution of the human race, that is has been maintained by mankind up to the present time, notwithstanding all vicissitudes of history….”
the point that I clearly failed to get across was that the desire for mutual aid was pretty universal among people of all hues.
Just a quick note to those here who care to know, JJ Cale has left the planet. Ticker stopped ticking but the music still plays on.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-28/grammy-award-winning-singer-songwriter-jj-cale-dies/4848306
Sofia KN, the ‘desire for mutal aid being universal among people of all hues’ is not a fact but wishful thinking. If it were true, we wouldn’t even be talking about it because this blog wouldn’t have a reason to exist.
Are the Palestinians considered to be ‘citizens’? Will they get a vote?
Israeli cabinet backs referendum bill for peace process
Mr Netanyahu faces a tough task convincing colleagues on prisoner releases
The Israeli cabinet has approved a bill requiring any peace deal with the Palestinians to be put to a referendum.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that it was “important that on such historic decisions every citizen should vote directly”.
/..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23482540
@Jemand.
I’d never claim the desire for mutual aid is the only one we have. Just that societies, to cohere and thrive, require a strong strand of co-operativeness.
Jemand – Censorship Improves History 28 Jul, 2013 – 12:32 pm
“…the ‘desire for mutal aid being universal among people of all hues’ is not a fact but wishful thinking.”
From the off Darwin’s theories were (mis)represented as scientific rational for wealth division. i.e. That ruthless competition is ineviatable, essential, natural.
Kropotkin was the first to point out that there is far more cooperation than competition in nature. That cooperation is a powerful evolutionary force. He also described a human history rich with cooperation.
But a world of cooperation is hidden from us by those who sell war. Instead it’s all survival of the fittest, law of the jungle, dog eat dog etc. Attenborough is an uncompromising idealogical propagandist.
But look around you. All that cooperation breaking out everywhere despite the propaganda. From the bacteria in your belly to the food bank down your street. We grew up being told that dogs and cats hate each other right? It’s not true!
But charity does begin at home, with those who carry your genes.
I know there are many exceptions proving the rule but never the less, it’s the egg that matters, chickens are just machines for making more eggs.
Phil, I never denied a function of cooperation between animals, including humans. Nor did I endorse the opposite. The single biggest irritant I have found on this blog is the wilfull misrepresentation of commentator’s posts. After that, there is the ever present confusion of “is” with “should”. Despite several attempts to highlight this problem, it still remains.
You write of there being more cooperation than competition in nature. I’d like to see some evidence of an objective measure of that. Whatever cooperation you can see is apparently either self-interested mutual assistance within a species, like we see in our friends the Meerkats*, or an unconcious symbiotic relationship between unlike species such as humans and bacteria.
You cannot argue with any credibility, that there is an innate, human-like feeling of ‘goodness’ in the concious minds of micro-organisms, insects, fish, cats and other so-called lesser animals, that motivates them to be cooperative when the circumstances provide.
And I am certainly well aware of extraordinary animal behaviour that sees vicious predators showing nurturing and caring towards other species that are *normally* their prey.
So what has this got to do with reports of Muslims donating money to other Muslims and causes that have an Islamic self-interest? How generous do Muslims feel inclined to donate to Jewish causes or those that have no religious affiliations at all? We can ask the same questions about all other groups but my comment was directed towards the nonsensical implication in Someone’s comment that Muslims are demonstrably more generous people than others. There was no explanation or analysis accompanying that comment, just a smug implication. I showed that it was bullshit, and here we are discussing dogs and kittens…… ??????????
As for your claim that (David?) Attenborough is a propagandist, I’m disappointed that you feel that way about a person who I regard as an extraordinary asset to your nation and its long history of documenting natural history. I see no political implications in his many of his documentaries except for the need to understand the enormous complexity of nature and the human tendency to destroy it. His doco on Climate Change, was excellent.
*I saw a doco that showed how vicious Meerkats were to other (rival) families. Their competitive drive saw them attack each other, with targetted killing of their young. Do I think any less or more of them? No. But I have no illusions or gooey sentiments about the nature of survival.
Fred, correct. We are all just machines finding new ways of surviving the day to lay another egg. Not a romantic vision of life, but then, why ‘should’ it be.
“I never denied a function of cooperation between animals”
And I didn’t mean to suggest you did. All I tried to say was your statement “mutual aid is wishfull thinking” is an overstated orthodoxy.
Here’s another, very modern, example of cooperation to bring a smile to your face: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ri5cszSKEg
OK I suppose there remains the remote possibility that attenborough is a patsy rather than a dastard.
I really didn’t intend to misrepresent you I just want you to stop killing kittens with your hate mongering.
Jemand, 9.20am
Thanks. I think your reading of the earliest days of this whole sorry saga is the most likely scenario.