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This is my first blogpost for over twelve months. The reason is I am writing a novel about Russian emigre poet George Ivanov (1894-1958) and this takes much of my spare time. However, with the Litvinenko Inquiry I am so incensed, I cannot stay silent. A High Court judge, Sir Robert William Owen, has taken it upon himself, with authorisation from David Cameron, against the advice of his Home Secretary, Theresa May, to pronounce judgment on the death of the shady Alexander Litvinenko. Unlike his former boss, the shady Boris Berezovsky, there has been no completed inquest into Litvinenko's death
My colleagues at News Junkie Post, Gilbert Mercier and Dady Chery, have kindly published my thoughts in an article and added some excellent illustrations, so I will not repeat it. You can read it at the link below. Please feel free to share it with your friends and on other sites. And if you like it, give the 'Like' button a nudge. Thanks!
http://newsjunkiepost.com/2016/01/22/litvinenko-inquiry-death-of-justice-in-the-united-kingdom/
Right, it's back to the novel for me.
Showing posts with label theresa May. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theresa May. Show all posts
Friday, January 22, 2016
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Something sinister in the heart of government
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In February this year Moazzam Begg was arrested and has been detained in police custody to appear on terrorist-related charges in October. Anybody with an ounce of reason knows this is a trumped-up charge to protect the secret services from allegations of torture against them. Begg was collecting evidence to go with that he already has collected. What is even more sinister is that since his arrest some unknown sources have prevented Cage (formerly Cage Prisoners) from accessing their money or receiving donations.
Thankfully, there are still some good honest journalists, and Peter Oborne, chief political commentator of the Telegraph, together with Alex Delmar-Morgan, has questioned who has this power to stop a legitimate organisation from accessing its own money and continuing to operate in an unimpeded manner. At a time when civil liberties have been, and are being, severely challenged by an uncaring government, when mainstream media concentrate on mundane stories in preference to the real news, it is heartening to know that some journalists like Peter Oborne, Robert Fisk, Glenn Greenwald, John Pilger and a few others pursue the real stories.
The prime minister, David Cameron, Michael Gove (when he was education minister) and Theresa May have all in one way or another demonstrated their hatred of Islam in an attempt to create an enemy that did not exist before on behalf of their US masters. All this hatred of Islam started long ago and a series of Acts has been introduced to remove the rights of, almost exclusively, Muslims. Thus Muslims can be imprisoned without charge or trial, and extradited or deported without evidence. The Gibson Inquiry was halted on Cameron's instructions because it showed our secret services in a bad light. The most recent act, the Justice and Security Act, allows for those complicit in torture to have their identities concealed and for hearings to take place in secret. It is the latest in a cynical set of acts designed to further erode civil liberties and keep the secret services unaccountable.
We need a People's Parliament. Most of those there now are not fit for purpose.
Thankfully, there are still some good honest journalists, and Peter Oborne, chief political commentator of the Telegraph, together with Alex Delmar-Morgan, has questioned who has this power to stop a legitimate organisation from accessing its own money and continuing to operate in an unimpeded manner. At a time when civil liberties have been, and are being, severely challenged by an uncaring government, when mainstream media concentrate on mundane stories in preference to the real news, it is heartening to know that some journalists like Peter Oborne, Robert Fisk, Glenn Greenwald, John Pilger and a few others pursue the real stories.
The prime minister, David Cameron, Michael Gove (when he was education minister) and Theresa May have all in one way or another demonstrated their hatred of Islam in an attempt to create an enemy that did not exist before on behalf of their US masters. All this hatred of Islam started long ago and a series of Acts has been introduced to remove the rights of, almost exclusively, Muslims. Thus Muslims can be imprisoned without charge or trial, and extradited or deported without evidence. The Gibson Inquiry was halted on Cameron's instructions because it showed our secret services in a bad light. The most recent act, the Justice and Security Act, allows for those complicit in torture to have their identities concealed and for hearings to take place in secret. It is the latest in a cynical set of acts designed to further erode civil liberties and keep the secret services unaccountable.
We need a People's Parliament. Most of those there now are not fit for purpose.
Monday, May 26, 2014
UKIP - The half human face of racism and Petro (Pyotr) Poroshenko
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Nigel Farage has been inteviewed on BBC (0700) News and finished the interview by saying "you will be seeing less of me in the future". If you believe it, and think like me, you will be thinking thank God for that. This right-wing stitched-on grin has never been off our screens, well captured in this short video. In the European elections UKIP has made significant gains as has the extreme right all over Europe, showing an unwelcome trend, for those of us who have campaigned against racism all our lives. When Farage was a Conservative he was to the far right of a party that contains such racists as Theresa May. She, and the Conservatives in general, are largely responsible for the rise in UKIP's increase in 10 European seats to 23 overall with one or two seats still to be counted. In the vilification of Muslims, homage to our US masters, she has given racism a half-human face.
Farage as recently as1998 referred to blacks as "niggers" and "nig-nogs" but now denies he ever said it. He clearly did. Professor Alan Sked, who founded UKIP, did not want this kind of racism for the party and reported Farage's racist remarks to the press. Farage threatened through his lawyers to sue Sked, but never went through with it, showing that he knew in his heart that Sked was right. This makes him a liar, which is not unique to UKIP politicians of course, but Farage has shown he is quite prepared to lie to convert the gullible to what has now become a right-wing nationalist party before with his highly inflated immigration projections about a flood of Romanians and Bulgarians which did not occur. This hyperbole is reminiscent of the rhetoric of former racist, Enoch Powell, with his 'rivers of blood' speech.
This week Prince Charles compared Vladimir Putin to Adolph Hitler. Yes, Putin is popular, but there has been no recent history of Russian imperialism or land grabs, though you would not believe this watching mainstream media, which portrays the legitimate home-based referendum in Crimea as a Russian invasion. The other referenda in Ukraine in the Donetsk and other Eastern regions took place under the duress of an army blockade even though Putin asked the electorate not to go ahead, hardly the action of a dictator. He was ignored. Eventually I see these regions becoming part of the Russian Federation. It will be portrayed as an invasion in our press.
In Ukraine since February there has been a lot of western-promoted riots which have put the country in chaos. Yesterday they too had an election. Putin has said he would work with anybody elected who was not a criminal. This seems to mean he will work with Petro Poroshenko who appears to have convincingly won the election there, but would not have been prepared to work with Yulia Timoshenko, who was the other front-runner. She, until the riots in Kiev which installed an illegal government, was serving a prison sentence for embezzlement and corruption. Surprisingly this Poroshenko victory has not been reported on the BBC yet. Poroshenko has talked peace so it needs to be seen if he keeps his word. What this may mean is that the eastern regions will be ceded to the Russian Federation, even if that means another referendum first. He has also talked of believing in a united Ukraine. In this result the west, who have pumped millions of dollars in pushing for regime-change, will be most disappointed, though Poroshenko allegedly has business interests in the west as well as in Russia.
So it would appear the Ukraine, which has recently seen racism showing all its many ugly faces, has voted against the illegal government that took over Ukraine. Beware that Farage's rise in power does not lead to a tsunami of racist riots. There is a tradition of fighting against racism from good people everywhere. If Nigel Farage ever came to power it would spell disaster. As it is they have not got a single seat in Westminster. Farage predicts that at the next General election UKIP will win parliamentary seats. That being so, keep a weather eye on this unwelcome surge.
Update on the Proshenko election:
The election of Poroshenko appears to have undergone some electronic anomalies and it may be referred back to a count. The right sector fascists, responsible for the deaths of many people in Odessa, which has taken over the Ukraine secret services (SUB), has apparently detected a bug, which may lead to a manual recount. It makes one want to ask if Karl Rove is in charge. Poroshenko is thought to have more than the 55% of votes necessary to take office. However the west wanted Timoshenko, who only polled about 12% in a low turnout, to win. Otherwise their investment in creating a failed state will be lost.
Farage as recently as1998 referred to blacks as "niggers" and "nig-nogs" but now denies he ever said it. He clearly did. Professor Alan Sked, who founded UKIP, did not want this kind of racism for the party and reported Farage's racist remarks to the press. Farage threatened through his lawyers to sue Sked, but never went through with it, showing that he knew in his heart that Sked was right. This makes him a liar, which is not unique to UKIP politicians of course, but Farage has shown he is quite prepared to lie to convert the gullible to what has now become a right-wing nationalist party before with his highly inflated immigration projections about a flood of Romanians and Bulgarians which did not occur. This hyperbole is reminiscent of the rhetoric of former racist, Enoch Powell, with his 'rivers of blood' speech.
This week Prince Charles compared Vladimir Putin to Adolph Hitler. Yes, Putin is popular, but there has been no recent history of Russian imperialism or land grabs, though you would not believe this watching mainstream media, which portrays the legitimate home-based referendum in Crimea as a Russian invasion. The other referenda in Ukraine in the Donetsk and other Eastern regions took place under the duress of an army blockade even though Putin asked the electorate not to go ahead, hardly the action of a dictator. He was ignored. Eventually I see these regions becoming part of the Russian Federation. It will be portrayed as an invasion in our press.
In Ukraine since February there has been a lot of western-promoted riots which have put the country in chaos. Yesterday they too had an election. Putin has said he would work with anybody elected who was not a criminal. This seems to mean he will work with Petro Poroshenko who appears to have convincingly won the election there, but would not have been prepared to work with Yulia Timoshenko, who was the other front-runner. She, until the riots in Kiev which installed an illegal government, was serving a prison sentence for embezzlement and corruption. Surprisingly this Poroshenko victory has not been reported on the BBC yet. Poroshenko has talked peace so it needs to be seen if he keeps his word. What this may mean is that the eastern regions will be ceded to the Russian Federation, even if that means another referendum first. He has also talked of believing in a united Ukraine. In this result the west, who have pumped millions of dollars in pushing for regime-change, will be most disappointed, though Poroshenko allegedly has business interests in the west as well as in Russia.
So it would appear the Ukraine, which has recently seen racism showing all its many ugly faces, has voted against the illegal government that took over Ukraine. Beware that Farage's rise in power does not lead to a tsunami of racist riots. There is a tradition of fighting against racism from good people everywhere. If Nigel Farage ever came to power it would spell disaster. As it is they have not got a single seat in Westminster. Farage predicts that at the next General election UKIP will win parliamentary seats. That being so, keep a weather eye on this unwelcome surge.
Update on the Proshenko election:
The election of Poroshenko appears to have undergone some electronic anomalies and it may be referred back to a count. The right sector fascists, responsible for the deaths of many people in Odessa, which has taken over the Ukraine secret services (SUB), has apparently detected a bug, which may lead to a manual recount. It makes one want to ask if Karl Rove is in charge. Poroshenko is thought to have more than the 55% of votes necessary to take office. However the west wanted Timoshenko, who only polled about 12% in a low turnout, to win. Otherwise their investment in creating a failed state will be lost.
Monday, November 25, 2013
The shame of Shaker Aamer's wrongful incarceration for 12 years.
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On Saturday I joined other protesters in London in concern for the shameful, illegal and immoral imprisonment of Shaker Aamer in Guantanamo Bay. Shaker has been tortured and considering the gravity of the offence of human-torture in this age of enlightenment from western states which peddle a myth that we live in a free society, it was rather surprising there were not more people present to mark the twelve years of this total injustice. There again, few spoke out about the Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War.
Shaker's imprisonment is a total injustice because he is innocent of any crime, has been cleared for release twice by two separate US investigations, the first six years ago, the second four years ago, the latter during Obama's term of office. Obama himself has confirmed that it is an injustice to keep him in Guantanamo concentration camp. Barrack Obama is president of the United States, yet it seems he is answerable to some higher authority, because although he has approved Shaker's release, he has not acted on that approval. Likewise in the UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague have called for Shaker's return. As one of the speakers, Guardian journalist Victoria Brittain, pointed out there is a likely conflict between the security services and government, because the UK security services are allegedly complicit in his torture when Shaker was first arrested. Anyway the UK is just a pawn in the US middle game, subservient and dispensable.
Also on the platform was independent journalist Andy Worthington who wrote The Guantanamo Files (Pluto Press 2007) and has been a doughty campaigner on human rights' abuses for many years. He made an impassioned delivery regarding the injustice and how frustrated we all feel that the best Cameron and Hague can do is write to Shaker in Guantanamo. Shaker remains in prison because the UK secret services are party to the torture of an innocent man, as is former Home Secretary Jack Straw, who must have approved this torture. So to protect the guilty an innocent man is made to suffer. He suggested, tongue-in-cheek that we should occupy William Hague's office. That is how frustrating it is becoming. What do we need to do to make our leaders do the right thing?
The brother of Talha Ahsan told of another injustice emanating from the desk of current Home Secretary, Theresa May, the extradition of Talha to the US together with Babar Ahmad. These wrongly-served men cannot see their families, have collectively spent 16 years in prison without trial, and are currently being held 23 hours every day in solitary confinement. I have covered their plights in previous blog-posts and with every passing day it is another day of injustice and torture for them and their families. One day justice might be seen to be done. The so-called 'war on terror' has been a turning point in the UK legal system because the anti-terrorism acts the 'war on terror' has spawned have led to breaches in the first principle of habeas corpus. These terrorist acts have not been committed by men with weapons but by the US and UK governments themselves. Shame on them!
Protesters pass the mosque where Shaker used to worship
Shaker's imprisonment is a total injustice because he is innocent of any crime, has been cleared for release twice by two separate US investigations, the first six years ago, the second four years ago, the latter during Obama's term of office. Obama himself has confirmed that it is an injustice to keep him in Guantanamo concentration camp. Barrack Obama is president of the United States, yet it seems he is answerable to some higher authority, because although he has approved Shaker's release, he has not acted on that approval. Likewise in the UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague have called for Shaker's return. As one of the speakers, Guardian journalist Victoria Brittain, pointed out there is a likely conflict between the security services and government, because the UK security services are allegedly complicit in his torture when Shaker was first arrested. Anyway the UK is just a pawn in the US middle game, subservient and dispensable.
Also on the platform was independent journalist Andy Worthington who wrote The Guantanamo Files (Pluto Press 2007) and has been a doughty campaigner on human rights' abuses for many years. He made an impassioned delivery regarding the injustice and how frustrated we all feel that the best Cameron and Hague can do is write to Shaker in Guantanamo. Shaker remains in prison because the UK secret services are party to the torture of an innocent man, as is former Home Secretary Jack Straw, who must have approved this torture. So to protect the guilty an innocent man is made to suffer. He suggested, tongue-in-cheek that we should occupy William Hague's office. That is how frustrating it is becoming. What do we need to do to make our leaders do the right thing?
Hamja Ahsan speaking about his brother's imprisonment in a US Supermax prison
The brother of Talha Ahsan told of another injustice emanating from the desk of current Home Secretary, Theresa May, the extradition of Talha to the US together with Babar Ahmad. These wrongly-served men cannot see their families, have collectively spent 16 years in prison without trial, and are currently being held 23 hours every day in solitary confinement. I have covered their plights in previous blog-posts and with every passing day it is another day of injustice and torture for them and their families. One day justice might be seen to be done. The so-called 'war on terror' has been a turning point in the UK legal system because the anti-terrorism acts the 'war on terror' has spawned have led to breaches in the first principle of habeas corpus. These terrorist acts have not been committed by men with weapons but by the US and UK governments themselves. Shame on them!
Friday, May 3, 2013
Two kinds of criminal - one Asian one white South African
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The Home Secretary is fixated with Abu Qatada and has set herself the task of deporting him to Jordan at whatever cost to the country or even her own reputation. I cannot stay silent when real criminals and nasty people are walking the streets freely while Theresa May does everything within her power to aid the war on Islam in persecuting its followers. So I have written an article comparing the duplicitous nature of her attacks on Muslims, and her protection of the white criminal fraternity. Please share it widely. Thanks.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
A hater of Islam - Theresa May
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Theresa May comes from a privileged background. We might once have said she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She has never known what it is like to be poor. She has never known what it is like to be a mother. Her loathing of Muslims is
baleful. Her pursuit to get Abu Qatada extradited to Jordan has turned into a personal vendetta. Yet she professes to be a Christian.
It is interesting that Abu Qatada, like Jesus, her professed saviour, was born in Bethlehem, and this case has all the hallmarks of anti-Christian behaviour on her part which verges on persecution. I have written to the head of the church, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rev Justin Welby, about her actions being out of compatibility with the teachings of the church and await his response.
Even when not held in custody nearly all Abu Qatada's freedom has been taken from him. He cannot speak to people in the street other than to say "Hello". He cannot use a phone. He cannot use any form of transport, public or private. He cannot use a computer, not even a computer with no connection to the web. He cannot stay anywhere but in his house. He can only leave his house during eight hours a day. He is tagged. He has committed no crime in this country. That is one reason why I am exposing Theresa May for what she is.
It is interesting that Abu Qatada, like Jesus, her professed saviour, was born in Bethlehem, and this case has all the hallmarks of anti-Christian behaviour on her part which verges on persecution. I have written to the head of the church, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rev Justin Welby, about her actions being out of compatibility with the teachings of the church and await his response.
Even when not held in custody nearly all Abu Qatada's freedom has been taken from him. He cannot speak to people in the street other than to say "Hello". He cannot use a phone. He cannot use any form of transport, public or private. He cannot use a computer, not even a computer with no connection to the web. He cannot stay anywhere but in his house. He can only leave his house during eight hours a day. He is tagged. He has committed no crime in this country. That is one reason why I am exposing Theresa May for what she is.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Going global on racism
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Not having many followers I am pleased to announce that my cartoon on the racist duplicity of Home Secretary, Theresa May, appears to be going global. It has far outstripped any satirical cartoon I have produced to date even those related to the despicable treatment of Julian Assange. In its first day it took more than 200 hits, which by my standards is remarkable. It is too early yet to know where it is getting most support since those figures will not be available for a day or two.
Theresa May is the daughter of a Christian clergyman. You might therefore think she would have some Christian compassion. You might therefore think that she had heard of the parable of the Good Samaritan who helped a foreigner who had been set upon by thieves. Instead, anybody with a non-English sounding name, is temptation to her. She bangs them up in prison for interminably long periods of time, defying the basic tenet of habeas corpus, gets a retiring judge to forgive the police who beat up Babar Ahmad, extradites an Asperger sufferer, Talha Ahsan, to the United States where human rights are almost non-existent today, then to demonstrate just how racist she is, does not extradite a similar sufferer who has a UK-sounding name, Gary McKinnon. I am happy to see that Gary McKinnon was not extradited, but the same law should have been applied to the other Asperger sufferer, UK-born Talha Ahsan.
It is not just me who has noticed this two-faced racist approach to extradition. The Huffington Post and the Independent and probably other quality newspapers noticed these dual standards. And it is not just Theresa May that is racist. Racism is rife throughout the Tory Party. Dominic Grieve did not allow a debate into the Epetition supporting Babar Ahmad which had close to 150,000 signatures. These people bring disgrace on my good name as an Englishman.
Theresa May is the daughter of a Christian clergyman. You might therefore think she would have some Christian compassion. You might therefore think that she had heard of the parable of the Good Samaritan who helped a foreigner who had been set upon by thieves. Instead, anybody with a non-English sounding name, is temptation to her. She bangs them up in prison for interminably long periods of time, defying the basic tenet of habeas corpus, gets a retiring judge to forgive the police who beat up Babar Ahmad, extradites an Asperger sufferer, Talha Ahsan, to the United States where human rights are almost non-existent today, then to demonstrate just how racist she is, does not extradite a similar sufferer who has a UK-sounding name, Gary McKinnon. I am happy to see that Gary McKinnon was not extradited, but the same law should have been applied to the other Asperger sufferer, UK-born Talha Ahsan.
It is not just me who has noticed this two-faced racist approach to extradition. The Huffington Post and the Independent and probably other quality newspapers noticed these dual standards. And it is not just Theresa May that is racist. Racism is rife throughout the Tory Party. Dominic Grieve did not allow a debate into the Epetition supporting Babar Ahmad which had close to 150,000 signatures. These people bring disgrace on my good name as an Englishman.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Two extradited poets - Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan
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Theresa May, a minister at home
though feeble servant to her masters there;
a solitary torture chamber cell,
To put me in, she’ll simply say, ‘Away!’
So let me while I can devote my time
to work for my own justice over here.
The poet
Babar Ahmad was extradited to New York following an appeal against extradition
that had all the hallmarks of a prearranged deal. It takes time to arrange
flights to the United States and seems extremely unlikely that the flights that
took 5 Muslims to face US injustice were not already scheduled by Theresa May
in her 'War on Islam'. On board these flights were the poet Talha Ahsan who I
mentioned in a post a few days ago. I have already written about how Babar was beaten by police, awarded £60,000
damages by the Metropolitan Police, but when a criminal case was brought
against these policemen, the judge, who was just about to retire, exonerated
them. This poem was published on the internet last Friday, the holy day of
Islam on which Babar lost his appeal.
Friday
One day...
The sun will shine again.
The flowers will blossom again.
The birds will sing again.
One day...
The rain will fall again.
The rivers will flow again.
The gardens will be green again.
One day...
The lips will smile.
The tears will dry.
The prayers will be answered.
One day...
The shackles will break.
The darkness will end.
The doors...
This is powerful
poetry. It is not Oscar Wilde, whose Ballad of Reading Gaol was
beautifully read yesterday by Alex Jennings on Poetry Please! Wilde had a
unique voice, and like Babar, experienced unjust penal incarceration. How
fittingly the following lines can be applied to all whose liberty has been
removed.
I know not whether
Laws be right,
Or whether Laws be wrong;
All that we know who lie in gaol
Is that the wall is strong;
And that each day is like a year,
A year whose days are long.
Or whether Laws be wrong;
All that we know who lie in gaol
Is that the wall is strong;
And that each day is like a year,
A year whose days are long.
Talha
Ahsan is also a poet. He suffers from Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism. He has
however written for Ceasefire Magazine and published a volume of his poetry entitled This Be The Answer. While Talha still had hope in July 2011 he wrote a great poem Extradition. He was
realistic enough to know the nasty nature of Theresa May, 'a feeble servant' to
her masters in the US.
Theresa May, a minister at home
though feeble servant to her masters there;
a solitary torture chamber cell,
To put me in, she’ll simply say, ‘Away!’
So let me while I can devote my time
to work for my own justice over here.
(C) Talha Ahsan, HMP Long Lartin, 19 July 2011
And so it proved, Theresa May was that 'feeble
servant' of the United States of America. The time has come for righteous
people to speak out and get our British citizens back on British soil. Writers,
poets artists, these are our brothers. Speak out for them!
Please join this group and get
your friends to join too.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Hang your heads in shame if you're British
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I
wrote to Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, this
week. My email read:
"It is of real
concern to have heard nothing from the A of C's office,
and no directives to
the Anglican Church regarding the wrongful
imprisonment of
Muslims, accused by the United States as having
infringed the same
laws that saw almost 800 people imprisoned in
Guantanamo Bay. Think of the wrongful imprisonment of St Paul
and then
let me know that my
church is destined to remain silent on such an abuse
of human rights.
I await your response
eagerly,
John Goss"
There was no
response.
I have blogged,
almost ad nauseum, to try and get justice for these men, who have been in prison for interminably long times
without being charged, more than 8 years in the case of Babar Ahmad and 6 in
the case of Talha Ahsan. Compare that with the short time it took to charge
Mark Bridger of the murder of the little girl, April Jones, in Wales. These men
are not suspected of murder but have been imprisoned on the say so of the
United States. It is Friday and millions of Muslims have been praying in the
mosques while Khateebs have been asked to remember them in Friday prayers.
As
well as the corruption of the judiciary it is particularly disturbing and cynical that
Theresa May and her friends the justices chose the Muslim holy day to deliver
the verdict, which was not arrived at in court. Thank God Julian Assange is
safe in the Ecuadorian Embassy, or he would be illegally sent with them. I am
ashamed to be British. There is a law for some, and a law against Muslims.
Shame on the law-courts. Shame on Theresa May. Shame on Dominic Grieve. It is not a war on terror. It is a war on Islam.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Adnan Latif - rest in peace
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Six days ago Adnan Latif became the eighth prisoner to die in Guantanamo Bay, a torture camp of the United States of America, where people are held without charge, with very little hope of freedom, and no hope whatsoever if they come, as Latif did, from the Republic of Yemen. Until this week any person, including US citizens, could be held indefinitely without trial in any US penal institution, not just Guantanamo Bay for which excuses have been found due to it not being on US soil. Thanks to a number of major writers, including Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, Chris Hedges, and philosopher and historian, Noam Chomsky, the permanent detention act signed off 'reluctantly' by Barack Obama has been judged to contravene the first amendment by district judge Katherine B. Forrest. This, however, will not bring Latif back to life.
It is doubtful that the US government will try again to establish this in law since the statute was condemned by judge Forrest for its vagueness. In other words they cannot find any justifiable words to describe the grounds for indefinite detention: thank God. Nevertheless they will still find measures, delaying measures like those which have failed to bring Bradley Manning to trial since his arrest and detention in May, 2010, and now postponed till February or March 2013. And all that time these young lives are wasted in prison while war-criminals like Tony Blair and George Bush are free to wallow in the oil riches stolen from the Middle-Eastern and North African countries they invaded for that purpose. These same countries are among those from which some of the US detainees were arrested before being subjected to rendition and torture in complicit outposts around the world. Then as a final insult to humanity they were banged up with no hope of release in Guantanamo Bay. Welcome to the United States.
Five years ago Marc Falcoff, Adnan's lawyer, wrote about Latif and other poets in Guantanamo Bay and included a few lines from his poem about the hunger strikers, of which he was one.
They are artists of torture,
They are artists of pain and fatigue,
They are artists of insults
and humiliation.
Where is the world to save us
from torture?
Where is the world to save us
from the fire and sadness?
Where is the world to save
the hunger strikers?
Adnan Latif was in his thirties, a young man, who should have had a bright future. Instead he has been abused and tortured, until death released him, by a country that thinks of itself as the greatest democracy in the world. He spent one third of his short life in Guantanamo Bay. Theresa May has fought relentlessly to send UK citizens, Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan, another poet who happens to suffer from Asperger's Syndrome, to this 'greatest democracy in the world'.
It is doubtful that the US government will try again to establish this in law since the statute was condemned by judge Forrest for its vagueness. In other words they cannot find any justifiable words to describe the grounds for indefinite detention: thank God. Nevertheless they will still find measures, delaying measures like those which have failed to bring Bradley Manning to trial since his arrest and detention in May, 2010, and now postponed till February or March 2013. And all that time these young lives are wasted in prison while war-criminals like Tony Blair and George Bush are free to wallow in the oil riches stolen from the Middle-Eastern and North African countries they invaded for that purpose. These same countries are among those from which some of the US detainees were arrested before being subjected to rendition and torture in complicit outposts around the world. Then as a final insult to humanity they were banged up with no hope of release in Guantanamo Bay. Welcome to the United States.
Five years ago Marc Falcoff, Adnan's lawyer, wrote about Latif and other poets in Guantanamo Bay and included a few lines from his poem about the hunger strikers, of which he was one.
They are artists of torture,
They are artists of pain and fatigue,
They are artists of insults
and humiliation.
Where is the world to save us
from torture?
Where is the world to save us
from the fire and sadness?
Where is the world to save
the hunger strikers?
Adnan Latif was in his thirties, a young man, who should have had a bright future. Instead he has been abused and tortured, until death released him, by a country that thinks of itself as the greatest democracy in the world. He spent one third of his short life in Guantanamo Bay. Theresa May has fought relentlessly to send UK citizens, Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan, another poet who happens to suffer from Asperger's Syndrome, to this 'greatest democracy in the world'.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Abu Qatada
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While this blog has supported the rights of
British citizens to face justice in Britain there are some people who have a
reputation for inciting hatred. One of these is Abu Qatada. It is difficult to
conjure up much sympathy for his plight since today Theresa May has just
announced his arrest and deportation to Jordan, where he has already been
sentenced to life imprisonment and hard labour for inciting terrorist attacks.
My main reservation is that this sentence, passed in absentia, means Qatada did not present a defence, and while guarantees
have been assured of a fair trial this time, as far as I can see there is
nothing to stop them implementing the outstanding sentence. Qatada’s
imprisonment in this country has been described as costly to the taxpayer.
So what is the difference between Qatada
and Ahmed Chalabi? Chalabi is a proven war-criminal. He put together false
evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction which was used to take us
into the illegal war which cost, and is costing, thousands of lives.
Furthermore, he is wanted, in Jordan, for stealing investors’ money from the
Petra Bank he set up there. So what is the difference between him and Abu
Qatada? You don’t need to be on University Challenge to know the answer. The
difference is Chalabi has money. Tories, Labour, Lib-Dems and other neo-cons court
people with money, however they got their greedy hands on it. Perhaps we should lobby Theresa May to get Abu Qatada and Ahmed Chalabi both on the same plane!
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