The war on whistleblowers, WikiLeaks and truth will be examined at a conference called The Persecution of Truth at the State Library of Queensland on Sunday April 30th.
An important aim of the seminar is to reacquaint Queenslanders with the extraordinary achievements of Julian Assange and detail his equally extraordinary persecution; how he has been corralled and silenced, imprisoned in Belmarsh for four years without ever being convicted of a crime; and to encourage supporters to get behind the campaign to free this great Queenslander and truth-teller.
Julian’s situation is desperate. After 13 years of increasing persecution, the last four in a maximum-security prison, he is being slowly, agonisingly crucified by the governments of the US, the UK and (shamefully!) his country of birth, Australia, the three countries that illegally invaded Iraq in 2003. Julian exposed their war crimes and helped end their war, but at extraordinary personal cost. If extradited to the US, he faces 175 years in prison. The AUKUS trio seem determined to keep Assange locked up until he dies.
Julian Assange’s father, John Shipton will be one the keynote speaker at the conference, updating the audience on his recent tour of the USA and Canada where he exhibited the documentary Ithaka about his and Stella Assange’s struggle to save Julian at 59 venues. He will be supported by Afghan War whistleblower, David McBride, who faces 60 years in prison for exposing war crime, and Michael West of Michael West media, who is facing his own problems with the courts for his award-winning journalism.
John Shipton’s efforts to save his son are awe-inspiring. He regularly visits Brisbane to meet with Assange supporters to inform them about the massive project of building a worldwide campaign to free his son. He has toured Australia, the USA, the UK and Europe many times on this quest.
There is no doubt that previous Australian administrations abandoned Julian because of the entanglement and collusion of the warmongers of the Defence Department and Foreign Affairs with the Five Eyes and the other elements of the US and UK deep states who have led Julian’s persecution. These greedy warmongers fear Julian Assange more than anyone on Earth, afraid a free Assange might expose their highly lucrative plans for ongoing wars, despite the suicidal threat to our species their schemes pose and the money they divert from the need to repair our planet.
The conference will celebrate the achievements of Julian Assange in journalism and examine the difference between corporate journalism and citizen journalism. Nearly every newspaper in Australia campaigned for the disastrous war in Iraq and they are now campaigning for a far more ruinous and mind-bogglingly expensive war with China. The media warmongers ignore the persecution of Assange for his courageous acts of journalism to hide their own historic deception, afraid consumers might question their daily propaganda. Our democracy has long been perverted by the monopoly control of our media by Rupert Murdoch and co. Nowhere is this worse than in Queensland where the Murdoch gang control Brisbane’s sole newspaper, the Courier Mail, as well as the major provincial newspaper in every regional centre in the state. In last year’s election for the House of Representatives, the LNP won 21 of Queensland’s 30 lower house seats, while taking a pasting in every other state.
The Albanese government is a considerable improvement on previous administrations, but they are still overly cowed by the warmakers and the propaganda of their media supporters. The seminar gives Assange supporters the opportunity to discuss their future plans.
The first action following the conference will occur 0n the next day at Brisbane’s annual Mayday march. For the past few years John Shipton has marched on Mayday with Julian’s union the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, and he will march with them again in 2023, reminding the ALP that their base wants Assange freed. John Shipton urges Brisbane’s Assange supporters to join him and march with the Assange contingent to reinforce this message on Mayday.
Truth is a lonely warrior, 1—2.30 pm
The prosecutions of Julian Assange, David McBride, and other whistleblowers by powerful actors in politics, the police, and the security establishment represents a major threat to our democracy.
Greg Barns SC, (Adviser, Australian Assange campaign),
Professor A J Brown, (Griffith Uni, Transparency International Australia)
Terry O’Gorman, (Queensland Council for Civil Liberties)
David McBride, (Afghan war crimes whistleblower)
Free Speech, Free Press, Free Assange, 3—4pm
Those who expose war crimes are prosecuted while the perpetrators of war crimes go free: the story of WikiLeaks, British justice and Julian Assange.
Kellie Tranter, (human rights activist)
John Jiggens, (Independent Australia, Pearls & Irritations)
Michael West, (Michael West Media)
A Conversation with John Shipton, 4-5pm
John Shipton, (father of Julian Assange) talks about his son’s case, discussing the direction of the Assange Campaign, and his recent American tour.
Dr John Jiggens is a citizen journalist. He was the founding editor of The Westender and The Cane Toad Times and currently works in the community newsroom at Bay-FM in Byron Bay. His PhD was Marijuana Australiana: Cannabis use, popular culture and the Americanisation of drug policy in Australia. He has published several books on the history of cannabis prohibition.
Contributions to Pearls and Irritations
Your contribution will fund quality independent comment and analysis in Pearls and Irritations
Contribute
