20220411 To Journalists @ Radio New Zealand :
Reporting on Julian Assange ?
Kia ora
Today, the 11th of April 2022 marks the 3rd anniversary of award-winning Australian publisher Julian Assange's detention in Belmarsh Prison , the last two years of which have been under 'arbitrary detention' (see Pak's NFT 'Clock' : 1095 days through which US$52million was raised in February (see below)
A U.N. panel has deemed that Julian Assange's detention in London's Belmarsh maximum security prison since the 11th of April 2019 is 'arbitrary' and the U.N. Special Rapporteur Dr Nils Melzer has deemed that the conditions in which he is being held as equating to 'psychological torture' . He suffered a stroke during the extradition trial in December 2021 and his health is deteriorating badly.
On the 11th of April 2019 Julian Assange was forcibly removed by British police from the Ecuadorian Embassy where he had been in asylum since June 2012.
New Zealand is signatory to the 2021 Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State to State Relations, as are the Australian, Canadian, U.S. and British governments however it seems that this international agreement is being ignored in this (and other cases).
Our request to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade ( Hon Nanaia Mahuta ) made on the 12th of December 2021 that a diplomatic protest be lodged with the British High Commission in Wellington went unanswered and as far as we know, no such action has been taken.
On the 10th of October 2021 New Zealanders for Julian Assange sent personally addressed requests to 550 New Zealand-based journalists and to 220 academics teaching media and political studies in New Zealand universities asking that they pay some attention to this case and that they assist by making their concerns known to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
We have never received any feedback so we have no idea as to whether any of you/them have shared your/their concerns to the Minister about the implications this case has on the willingness of journalists to do due diligence and to report on issues by which they may end up incriminating themselves and thereby risk prosecution and with this new precedent being set, if it involves the U.S.A. possible extradition and imprisonment.
N.B. It seems that no further investigations or reporting have been carried out on the evidence that has been published by wikileaks and especially not on the multiple and systematic breaches of the Geneva Conventions committed by U.S. military during their illegal invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan during which thousands of civilians were killed.
Ostensibly we New Zealanders live in a democracy but our media professionals have mysteriously been showing very little interest in what the European Federation of Journalists is calling 'an extremely dangerous precedent' which is already having a chilling effect on journalists' willingness to investigate stories that truly hold power to account.
Consequently there is very little awareness about this case among the New Zealand public and a commensurate lack of concern that might otherwise translate (given that we are a functioning, responsive democracy ) into diplomatic pressure from our Ministry of Foreign Affairs to have Julian Assange released, in the first instance , and ultimately, to start investigations into the evidence of violations of the Geneva Convention by U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Radio New Zealand has conducted a few of its own interviews which have greatly contributed to the public awareness of Julian Assange's case and on its implications but it is of concern to us that coverage has mainly been stories prepared by either Reuters or Associated press which usually mention directly or by inference, terms such as 'holed up in the embassy', hacker, rapist' which maintain a negative impression with much focus on the individual with the effect that attention is distracted away from the issue for which he has been imprisoned : Holding power to account by publishing evidence of their wrong-doing.
On the 8th of February 2022 Radio New Zealand made no mention of the significant and interesting development of the Assange DAO having raised US$52,000,000 to fund the case for his release. Similarly there was no reporting on the 23rd of March 2022 on the significant and interesting occasion of the marriage and wedding ( in Belmarsh Prison ) of Julian Assange to his lawyer, Stella Moris who is mother to his two children.
Julian Assange set up Wikileaks to 'know the fate of man' - to enable us to see into the institutions through which our civilization works so that we can understand how to more effectively mitigate their excesses and abuse of power.
It is extremely concerning that this case is being orchestrated towards an outcome that has grave implications for the ability of our democracies to function by ensuring that the machinations of power can be subject to the scrutiny of its journalists and they can be held to account by their citizens.
Transparency International rated New Zealand as the 'least' corrupt country in the world in 2021.
On the 20th of April 2022 the British Home Secretary Priti Patel ( who has significant conflict of interests ) will make the decision of whether to extradite Julian Assange to the U.S.A. where he faces charges of espionage for which he could be imprisoned in solitary confinement for up to 175 years.
This case significantly affects your ability to perform your profession and your profession is to protect our democracy.
Naku noa na Alan William Preston ( @ Mangawhai ) for New Zealanders for Julian Assange.
newzealandersforjulianassange@gmail.com
Website : www.newzealandersforjulianassange.org.nz
Facebook Group : New Zealanders For Julian Assange
Contact: Alan William Preston on 02102377242