Daily Archives: 2020-11-30

2020-11-30: News Headlines

Pip Hinman (2020-11-30). Julian Assange's father calls on government not to break its own rules. greenleft.org.au John Shipton, the father of jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, has called on the federal government to follow its own rules, reports Jim McIlroy.

_____ (2020-11-30). Letter To Rob Davis Governor of HMP Belmarsh. popularresistance.org I am shocked to read that all 56 virus-infected prisoners at Belmarsh have been moved to the same wing as Mr. Assange, who so far by miracle is not infected. This seems utter madness to me and suggests you may want him also to become infected. Everyone knows Mr. Assange has damaged lungs (see UN report by Nils Melzer) and will almost certainly die if he catches this virus, yet instead of taking measures to protect him it appears you are deliberately placing him at greater risk of catching the virus. If he dies I believe your lack of appropriate actions will make you legally responsible for his death.

Pip Hinman (2020-11-30). John Shipton calls on government not to break its own rules. greenleft.org.au John Shipton, the father of jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, has called on the federal government to follow its own rules, reports Jim McIlroy.

MEE and agencies (2020-11-30). Egyptian man returns to Australia after jailing in Egypt over Facebook post. middleeasteye.net Egyptian man returns to Australia after jailing in Egypt over Facebook post | Waled Youssef was accused of belonging to a banned political group and imprisoned in the notorious Tora prison in Cairo

| Mon, 11/30/2020 – 07: 35 | Youssef's return home comes as Egypt continues to imprison rights activists from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights after meeting with European dip…

MEE and agencies (2020-11-30). Egyptian man returns to Australia after 10 month imprisonment in Egypt over Facebook post. middleeasteye.net Egyptian man returns to Australia after 10 month imprisonment in Egypt over Facebook post | Waled Youssef was accused of belonging to a banned political group and imprisoned in the notorious Tora prison in Cairo

| Mon, 11/30/2020 – 07: 35 | Youssef's return home comes as Egypt continues to three rights activists from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights after meeting with E…

Hanna Johnson (2020-11-30). The Questions You Probably THINK You Know the Answer to — But Likely Don't — About ICE Detention. aclu.org What is ICE detention? What is it not?: | Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE — pronounced "ice," like a cube) detention is civil detention. It is not intended to be

WSWS (2020-11-30). ICE detainees in New Jersey stage hunger strike over coronavirus threat. wsws.org Nine immigrants held at Bergen County Jail in Hackensack are demanding release from the rat-infested facility where social distancing is not possible.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-30). The agony of Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul. peoplesdispatch.org Saudi women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who has been in jail for over 900 days and faced physical and psychological torture, is now set to be tried in a terrorism court…

Reiner Fuellmich (2020-11-30). Video: Is it a Staged Pandemic? The RT-PCR Test. globalresearch.ca An important guest to get to Dr. Reiner, is with us now and he is in Germany and my understanding is, is actually filing a lawsuit, correct me if I'm wrong, filing a lawsuit over many of the lockdowns …

John Malkin (2020-11-30). Tamario Smith's Death in SC County Jail – Attorneys Discuss May 10 Death & Lawsuit. indybay.org Interview with Jonathan Gettleman and Elizabeth Caballero, two Santa Cruz attorneys filing a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Tamario Smith's family.

repost (2020-11-30). Kamala Harris' Prosecutors Sent This Innocent Man to Prison for Murder. Now He's Talking. indybay.org In a New York Times op-ed published in January, University of San Francisco law professor Lara Bazelon described various instances when Harris, either as district attorney or state attorney general, vigorously defended cases in which prosecutors were accused of fabricating testimony or withholding potentially exculpatory evidence—stacking the deck against the accused. | "My issue with [Harris] is the way she characterizes herself and her record. If she were just straightforward, it wouldn't be a problem."—Lara Bazelon…

Editor (2020-11-29). NPR's Shameful Comparison of Stacey Abrams to Donald Trump. scheerpost.com TED Conference / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0] By Ari Paul / FAIR It's very likely that Stacey Abrams is not governor of Georgia today because in 2018, she and thousands of the state's voters were victims of voter suppression that propelled then—Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp into the governor's office. She wasn't quiet about this, not just because the shenanigans probably cost her the election… |

Staff (2020-11-29). A Prosecutor Called Jail Time for Renters Who Fall Behind "Cruel." He Got Fired. truthout.org An Arkansas prosecutor has been fired after speaking out against the state's criminal eviction statute in Arkansas is the only state where landlords can file criminal charges rather than civil complaints against tenants for falling behind…

Peter Biesterfeld (2020-11-28). Where is Canadian Media on the Assange File? dissidentvoice.org After 10 years of restricted freedom, political exile and incarceration, Julian Assange finally came face-to-face with his accusers at the Old Bailey Criminal Court in London. For three weeks in September, a team of English lawyers argued on behalf of their client, the U.S. Department of Justice, that the beleaguered WikiLeaks founder and publisher should …

Minnie Bruce Pratt (2020-11-28). Joann Little and the right to self-defense. workers.org The following remarks were given at the Sept. 24 webinar "Women and Gender Oppressed Prisoners: Survival and Resistance," hosted by the Prisoners Solidarity Committee of Workers World Party. A struggle waged in the U.S. South gives a historic lesson in how imprisoned women and gender-oppressed people have fought back. I . . . |

Johnnie Lewis (2020-11-28). "We did not sign up to be raped": Women veterans fight back against military sexual trauma. workers.org The writer is a U.S. Army veteran and was an organizer of the American Servicemen's Union, 1968-69. This month two veterans, represented by the Yale Law School Veterans Legal Service Clinic, won a lawsuit against the U.S. Army for giving "bad paper" discharges to veterans with mental health diagnoses. The . . . |

_____ (2020-11-28). 'Refusing To Serve In The Army Is My Small Act Of Making Change'. popularresistance.org As Hallel Rabin stood before the IDF conscientious objectors committee two weeks ago, the military body that decides whether or not she would be sent back to prison for refusing to serve in the army, she was asked the strangest of questions: "Would you agree to wear the army uniform if it were pink?" | "I don't have an issue with the color," she responded, "I have an issue with wearing an army uniform — regardless of the army." A conscientious objector, Rabin was still in military prison for refusing to serve due to the army's occupation policies.

sputniknews (2020-11-28). Number of Detentions at Anti-Lockdown Protest in London Rises to 155, Police Say. sputniknews.com LONDON (Sputnik) – More than 150 people were detained in London during a protest against coronavirus restrictions, the Metropolitan Police Service said in a Saturday statement.

_____ (2020-11-27). Venezuela Convicts Six CITGO Former Executives Of Corruption. popularresistance.org Six former executives of the CITGO Petroleum Corporation were sentenced to between eight and 13 years in prison after being found guilty of corruption. | Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) announced that Citgo former President Jose Pereira will be in jail for 13 years and seven months for the crimes of "intentional embezzlement and conspiracy." | Pereira also will have to pay a fine of US$2 million, equivalent to 40 percent of the value of the embezzled goods. | Former executives Tomeu Vadell, Jorge Toledo, Gustavo Cardenas, Jose Zambrano, and Alirio Zambrano will serve eight years and ten months in priso…

_____ (2020-11-27). Maradona: The Bolivarian Soccer Genius. popularresistance.org The fighting peoples of the world lost a humble legend yesterday. Diego Armando Maradona was 60 years old. Arguably the greatest soccer player to ever grace the pitches, the spirited striker combined unparalleled skills in his sport and an unflinching outspokenness before oppression. No other sports figure's public statements and transformation has equally captured the changing momentum across Latin America. | The hundreds of thousands of tributes being paid throughout the world portray a particular image: Maradona in close solidarity with the biggest progressive leaders of the social reformist wave embraced by t…

Staff (2020-11-27). Four Days in Occupied Western Sahara — A Rare Look Inside Africa's Last Colony as Ceasefire Ends. democracynow.org In this special rebroadcast of a Democracy Now! exclusive documentary, we break the media blockade and go to occupied Western Sahara in the northwest of Africa to document the decades-long Sahrawi struggle for freedom and Morocco's violent crackdown. Morocco has occupied the territory since 1975 in defiance of the United Nations and the international community. Thousands have been tortured, imprisoned, killed and disappeared while resisting the Moroccan occupation. A 1,700-mile wall divides Sahrawis who remain under occupation from those who fled into exile. Earlier this month, a three-decade ceasefire in Western…

John Pilger (2020-11-27). Britain's Class War on Children. counterpunch.org When I first reported on child poverty in Britain, I was struck by the faces of children I spoke to, especially the eyes. They were different: watchful, fearful. In Hackney, in 1975, I filmed Irene Brunsden's family. Irene told me she gave her two-year-old a plate of cornflakes. "She doesn't tell me she's hungry, she

David Schultz (2020-11-27). Trump and a Republic That We Could not Keep. counterpunch.org Donald Trump refuses to concede and claims the 2020 election was rift with fraud. American democracy is in peril. Then the GSA will fund the Biden presidential transition. His lawsuits are coming to an end. The electoral college will soon cast its ballots. And Donald Trump will no longer be president of the US. The

Mohammad Ayesh (2020-11-27). Arabic press review: 'Mass corruption' probe at Saudi defence ministry. middleeasteye.net Arabic press review: 'Mass corruption' probe at Saudi defence ministry | Meanwhile, French foreign minister says France is being defamed, a plane full of dollars arrives in Damascus from the UAE, and Egypt's prisoners denied visits | Fri, 11/27/2020 – 14: 45 | Saudi authorities are reportedly investigating 158 criminal cases involving 226 Saudi citizens and residents suspected of squandering hun…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-27). Palestinian administrative detainee Maher al-Akhras free at last. peoplesdispatch.org Palestinian administrative detainee Maher al-Akhras was finally released from Israeli custody on November 26, Thursday. Al-Akhras had earlier been on a 104-day hunger strike to protest his illegal administrative detention by Israel and to demand his release. He agreed to end his hunger strike after successfully securing an agreement for his release at the end of his current term of administration detention, which would have otherwise most likely been renewed for another term. | Since reaching the agreement, al-Akhras has been treated at the Israeli Kaplan hospital. He was transferred there from prison due to a dr…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-27). Court in Tunisia sentences blogger to two years in prison over social media posts. peoplesdispatch.org Blogger Wajdi Mahouechi was reportedly arrested after he criticized the public prosecutor in Tunisia. On November 12, the Tunis First Instance Court convicted him of all charges and sentenced him to two years in prison along with a fine of 1,000 Tunisian Dinars (USD 300)…

teleSUR (2020-11-27). Bolivia: Court Lifts Photojournalist Facundo Molares' Arrest. telesurenglish.net In Bolivia, Montero City's Criminal ruled the cessation of preventive detention measures against Facundo Molares, an Argentine photojournalist who is being investigated for crimes committed during…

sputniknews (2020-11-27). Several Hundred Inmates Involved in Massive Riot at Arizona Prison. sputniknews.com The incident happened after 'several hundred inmates grouped together around staff and refused to disperse'. Corrections officers deployed 'nonlethal munitions' including pepper balls and rubber bullets but it remains unclear what caused the riot itself.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-26). Major COVID-19 outbreak in Belmarsh prison, Assange's family raise alarm. peoplesdispatch.org According to Julian Assange's partner, Stella Moris, at least 56 inmates were found to be infected in the block where he is held. Assange, along with nearly 200 other inmates of his house block, had been under lockdown since November 18…

Nadda Osman (2020-11-26). Egyptian artist Ramy Essam's new song inspired by poet jailed for 1,000 days. middleeasteye.net Egyptian artist Ramy Essam's new song inspired by poet jailed for 1,000 days | Ramy Essam, who was at the forefront of the 2011 protests in Egypt, has released a new song to highlight Galal El-Behairy's imprisonment | Thu, 11/26/2020 – 10: 52 | Essam has released a new song to raise awareness of the imprisonment of Galal El-Behairy (MEE/Patrick Fore/Ganzeer) | Egyptian artist and musician Ramy Essam rele…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-26). Colombian social leader Julián Gil released after 900 days unjustly held in prison. peoplesdispatch.org "This is a victory of people's movements," declared Julián Gil as he left the prison and was greeted by dozens of family members, friends as well as militants and leaders of his organization Congreso de los Pueblos (the People's Congress). Gil, who worked as the technical secretary of the organization was arrested 902 days ago outside the organization's office and falsely accused of having participated in and planned acts of terrorism. | On Tuesday November 24, the Specialized Judge of Cundinamarca absolved Gil of all charges and declared that he should be released immediately. Gil had been accused of rebellion a…