2021-10-10
For addresses check out Community Comms Collective's list over at :
http://communitycomms.org.nz/resources/media-relations/media-contact-list/
31st of October 2021
New Zealand's state-owned media Radio and TV New Zealand steadfastly maintained their blackout throughout what is being called by many 'the trial of our civilization' that was held in London's High Court over the 27th and 28th of October 2021.
Time to put our media professionals on trial . All of them.
This is THEIR profession we're protecting and their profession's role is to expose any excesses or abuses of power by those in whom we have entrusted it - to protect our democracy.
They're the ones who have the responsibility to be bringing this travesty to their publics' attention to bring electoral and diplomatic pressure onto the British authorities to force them to abide by the U.N. rulings as they are required to do as signatories to the 1948 Declaration on Human Rights.
They have remained suspiciously reticent throughout this travesty
and when they have spoken it has often been to denigrate the person and to denigrate the value of the extremely important work he'd achieved before he sought asylum 9 years ago.
I will be following up my contacts with the 550 journalists and 200 + academics teaching media and political studies who I contacted over the last month and will be making a complaint to the media council and to the ombudsman .
If we don't engage our democracy , we will lose it. Completely.
It's already down to a shadow of its former self.
( The following message was sent to Radio New Zealand journalists May 2021 )
Suggestions for interviewees ( no response and no further interviews to date ).
Kia ora.
Thanks to Radio New Zealand and to Bryan Crump for conducting these in-depth interviews 'Julian Assange and the Future of the Press' (2020-11-02) and to Kim Hill for her interview with Jennifer Robinson ' Fighting for Assange, West Papua and Public Education (2021-04-21 ).
Julian Assange remains arbitrarily detained in solitary confinement in London's Belmarsh maximum security Prison awaiting an appeal by the United States of America to extradite him to face trial for having published evidence of breaches of the Geneva Convention by U.S. and U.K. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
While New Zealand's Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta recently confirmed that " Aotearoa New Zealand is a strong proponent of the international rules based system." public awareness in this case, which is already having a chilling effect on the willingness of journalists to investigate and report on the excesses power, remains very low, with a consequent, commensurate lack of support for a political/diplomatic solution.
To maintain a functioning, responsive, democracy, our journalists must be free to investigate and to publicise information on the behaviour of our institutions without fear of intimidation and reprisal.
For more background on the case of Julian Assange, go to : www.newzealandersforjulianassange.org.nz
Here are some suggestions for other possible interviewees who have been involved in the case of Julian Assange.
Nils Melzer ( U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture Contact : sr-torture@ohchr.org )
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Torture/SRTorture/Pages/NilsMelzer.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nils_Melzer
about to be released book : The Case of Julian Assange - interviewed by Randy Credico on 2021-05-03 on Live on the Fly by Randy Credico
Rebecca Vincent : Director of International Campaigns @ Reporters Without Borders
https://rsf.org/en/media-center
Rebecca Vincent : rvincent[at]rsf.org UK Bureau Director London :
See video on : https://www.dw.com/en/the-case-of-julian-assange-rule-of-law-undermined/a-57260909
Nicky Hager : A very good interview with Nicky Hager NZ investigative journalist talking about Julian Assange and Wikileaks with ( 0:21:46) Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM's Earthwise program( Christchurch ) Nicky has met Julian Assange and has worked with Wikileaks. Nicky testified in support of Assange at the extradition trial in London
Published: 10/19/2020 9:00:00 PM Nicky Hager can be contacted by email to nhager@actrix.co.nz
John Shipton ( Julian Assange's Father Contact possibilities : Northern Rivers NSW for Assange ( on Facebook ) - currently on a nationwide tour of Australia promoting his son's release from Belmarsh Prison in London. Organisers are intending to take the tour to the United States on the 20th of June 2021.
Stella Moris-Smith Robertson ( Julian Assange's partner Assange have two sons, Gabriel, born in 2017, and Max, born in 2019,
https://www.facebook.com/stella.moris.7773/about_contact_and_basic_info
Kristinn Hrafnsson (Wikileaks Editor in Chief )
https://www.facebook.com/wikileaks
https://twitter.com/khrafnsson?lang=en
https://wikileaks.org/Enquiries-and-Contact.html
Noam Chomsky : https://chomsky.info/about/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYdDp4mHDRY
John Pilger : UK-based Australian journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker.
http://johnpilger.com/contact
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_w8hWXoD6k&t=6s
Scott Ludlum : former Greens MP from Western Australia..
Despair and Defiance - Senator Scott Ludlam in Conversation with Julian Assange
Contact @ scottludlam.org.au
Please let us know if you can think of any other possibilities.
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Nga mihi nui . Naku noa na
New Zealanders for Julian Assange.
2021-05-20