Tag: Free Press

PACE Autumn Session | Debate on the Detention and Conviction of Julian Assange

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PACE debate recorded the day after the first public statement of Julian Assange since his release from Belmarsh prison.

More information below the video [edited for start time]. Aired Oct. 2nd 2024:

Julian Assange, accompanied by his wife Stella, took part in a parliamentary hearing on his detention and conviction – and their chilling effect on human rights – on 1 October 2024 ahead of a full plenary debate on this topic by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) due the following day.

In his first public remarks since his release from detention at Belmarsh Prison in the UK four months ago, Mr Assange told parliamentarians: “I want to be totally clear. I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today because after years of incarceration I pleaded guilty to journalism. I pleaded guilty to seeking information from a source, and I pleaded guilty to informing the public what that information was.”

He added: “It’s good to be back. It’s good to be amongst people who – as we say in Australia – who give a damn. It’s good to be amongst friends.”

The hearing was organised by the Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights in the framework of a report on this topic by Thorhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC). Wikileaks Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson also took part.

In a recent draft resolution, based on Ms. Ævarsdóttir’s report, the committee expressed deep concern at Mr. Assange’s harsh treatment, warned of its “chilling effect” and called on the United States, a Council of Europe observer state, to investigate the alleged war crimes and human rights violations disclosed by him and Wikileaks.

The committee also said it considers that the “disproportionately severe charges” brought against him by the US authorities, as well as the heavy penalties foreseen under the Espionage Act for engaging in acts of journalism, fall within the requirements set out in a 2012 Assembly resolution on the definition of a political prisoner.

On Wednesday 2 October, the Assembly – which brings together parliamentarians from the 46 Council of Europe member states – will debate and vote on the committee’s draft resolution. Mr. Assange is expected to be present in the public gallery to watch the debate.

Courtesy of Consortium News, Creative Commons Attribution.

Profound erosion of press freedom in the U.S. ~ Reporters Without Borders

According to a new report from Reporters sans frontières / Reporters Without Borders / RSF there was a profound erosion of press freedom in the U.S. in 2013.

The United States has plunged 13 spots in the group’s global press freedom rankings to number 46.

Read more: http://bit.ly/1okCslx

TRC News – a new direction

by Gabrielle Price

Considering the amount of social media connections one can make on the internetz, I’ve decided to let those connections work ‘for me’ rather than against me in sharing news with readers.

Not only am I a writer and photographer, but a news analyst.  Over the last two years, I have made it my mission to wade through the vast wasteland of US news outlets to pluck out nuggets of truth to share with my readers.  It’s a lot like performing an autopsy on US media and then harvesting the good organs that haven’t shut down yet.  My research background comes in handy for this task.

My comments on social sites tend to be rather colorful – my Gonzo comes out often but the new ‘timeline’ everyone loves to cheer or complain about has its downside.  I can’t find a damn thing I posted three weeks ago to connect other stories that have been shared earlier – which is important for researching in order to help you connect the dots.

That and some seriously golden Gonzo moments are sucked into Facebook’s blackhole where I cannot retrieve them.  So, from now on – I will do my news analysis here on the blog.  It needs more content and I can keep my research and verbal color palette in one place for myself and for my readers.  Win/win!

With Facebook’s recent changes and the news that it just purchased the photo sharing company, Instagram – I have decided to keep all my eggs in TRC’s basket – not Zuckerberg’s.

US media is cracking down hard on citizen journalists – especially when it comes to covering Occupy through the big brother tools of “free” social media.  We all know in this climate – nothing is free.  We either agree to be mined for data, spied upon or do not use social media at all.  OR we use their tools to our advantage.  I have recently changed to open source software for my OS as well as my browser.  I will defend my free speech here with all the tools at my disposal, until they make it impossible to do so.

I hope you’ll find this new direction worthwhile and will make TRC a valuable resource for news you can use in the future.  Many thanks to all who support TRC and free speech everywhere.

Let the autopsy – er – analysis begin.  Hand me that scalpel…