Australian PM Says "Revolted" By Looming Indonesian Executions

Even though sanctimonious, elephant-eared hypocrite not revolted by digger scumbags bringing 18 POUNDS of smack into Australia to poison citizens, kids    

REUTERS
By Jane Wardell
03/04/2015

SYDNEY - 

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Wednesday said he was "revolted" by the looming execution of two convicted Australian drug traffickers as preparations were under way to move the men to an island where they will be shot.

The planned executions of Myuran Sukumaran, 33, and Andrew Chan, 31, have ratcheted up diplomatic tensions amid repeated pleas of mercy for the pair.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has adopted a tough stance on carrying out harsh penalties for drug traffickers. 

Executions were resumed in 2013 after a five-year gap and nationals from Brazil, Malawi, the Netherlands, Nigeria and Vietnam have been among those put in front of a firing squad.

Widodo has denied clemency to 11 convicts currently on death row, including the Australian nationals, and warned other countries to stay out of Indonesia's sovereign affairs.

AU dope smugglers Chan and Sukumaran

"At every moment, I'm making Australia's position clear. We, frankly, are revolted by the prospect of these executions," Abbott told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.

"I think there are millions of Australians who feel sick to their stomachs about what's happened to these two men who committed a terrible crime, a terrible crime," Abbott said. "But the position of Australia is that we abhor drug crime but we abhor the death penalty as well, which we think is beneath a country like Indonesia."

Indonesia's chief prosecutor has said Chan and Sukumaran will be moved from Bali on Wednesday to the island of Nusakambangan, where executions are carried out, according to media reports.

Australia's ABC TV showed live footage of a large contingent of police officers arriving pre-dawn at Bali's Kerobokan prison, where the two men have been held for a decade.

The pair were convicted in 2005 as the ringleaders of the so-called Bali Nine, who were arrested at Bali's Denpasar airport for attempting to smuggle 8 kg (18 lb) of heroin to Australia.

The Australian government has stressed that Sukumaran and Chan have been rehabilitated in prison, where they mentor younger inmates.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said pardoning them would be a show of "strength" for Widodo and a vote of confidence in Indonesia's ability to rehabilitate offenders.

Abbott said Australia's lobbying on behalf of the men had previously shown some promise, but he no longer wanted to hold out false hope.

"There were some suggestions earlier that perhaps at least some people in the Indonesian systems were having second thoughts but I'm afraid those signals seem to be dissipating," he said.

Editing by Dean Yates.

This news bureau contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.  We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

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Save The Children Apologises Over Tony Blair Legacy Award

Save the Children can now rescind the award; Blair takes another step towards inevitable war crimes trial along with pals Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Powell, Petraeus, Perino, Franks, Feith, Wolfowitz, Gonzalez et al

THE TELEGRAPH
By Ben Riley-Smith
03/03/2015

Save the Children has apologised over its decision to give Tony Blair a global legacy award and admitted it damaged the charity.

Justin Forsyth, the charity’s chief executive, said he was “very sorry” for the supporters and staff upset by the decision and called the issue an “unnecessary distraction”.

Mr Forsyth, a former aide to Mr Blair, also said it would have been “wrong” to give an award to the former Prime Minister for his whole legacy rather than his work in Africa specifically.

The public apology, which came during an interview on BBC Radio Four’s Today Programme, comes after a heated backlash to the award after it was announced in November.

More than 100,000 people signed an online petition calling for the award to be rescinded and around 500 Saved the Children staff members have reportedly backed a similar petition.

War crimes trials pending for both mass-murderers

There was anger over Mr Blair’s decision to take Britain into two Middle East wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the deaths that followed. Questioned about the award on Radio Four, Mr Forsyth said: “I know that many of our supporters and volunteers were very upset and our staff, several of our staff too, and I'm very sorry for that.”

He said the decision had been made by the British charity’s “sister organisation” in America, where Mr Blair did not have the same controversial legacy, and explained the award was only for his Africa work.

“Yes, it was a global legacy award. It was called that. But actually it was an award very, very specifically for Tony Blair's efforts on Africa at two G8 summits at Birmingham and Gleneagles, not his wider legacy.

“And if it had been for his wider legacy I think it would be wrong, but it was for something quite specific that helped Africa and children.

“I'm sorry it's upset so many people. It's not really what we do at Save the Children. 

What we're really doing is on the ground in Syria with the Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone – that's the work we do.

"This has been really an unnecessary distraction. 

I do apologise to those people that it's upset.”

Mr Forsyth admitted the row had “in part” damaged the charity in eyes of some staff but expressed hope people would accept organisations “make mistakes”.

On his Save the Children biography Mr Forsyth says he was recruited to Number 10 by Mr Blair to help work on poverty and climate change and was “one of the driving forces behind the Make Poverty History campaign”.

He then became Gordon Brown's strategic communications and campaigns director before joining Save the Children.

This news bureau contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.  We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

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NSA Spying Inquiry : UK - German Intelligence - Sharing Dispute Deepens

Cross-dresser Cameron and Nazi Merkel have found out just what it means to be "friends" with Obama  

RT
03/03/2015

Germany’s efforts to investigate National Security Agency (NSA) spying are being hampered by Britain’s refusal to co-operate amid threats to break off intelligence-sharing agreements, a German newspaper has reported.

No more kissy-face; new NSA farce - Nazis vs... Nazis

The claims note a heightening of tensions between Downing Street and the German Chancellery over intelligence-sharing.

According to German newspaper reports, the Bundestag’s investigation into the NSA could be halted if any UK secrets are revealed.

It was revealed in leaked NSA documents that the US spy agency had hacked German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone, sparking outrage amongst the German public and fostering a spike in anti-American sentiment.

The magazine Focus reported in February that one of Prime Minister David Cameron’s national security aids had written to Merkel’s Chief of Staff refusing to provide help in the inquiry. 

They also threatened to stop the supply of terrorism intelligence unless Berlin ceased investigations.

Germany’s foreign intelligence service, the BND, is viewed internationally as “less than vigorous,” according to the Guardian. They reportedly glean most of their terror information from British and American intelligence sources.

According to the Munich paper Süddeutsche Zeitung, the head of the BND was recalled from holiday on Tuesday in order to brief officials on what the paper called a “crisis.”

Tough choice for cross-dresser Cameron: will he be

smooching Obama or Merkel

“The British possibly want to cover up that they are spying on Germany, not only on countering terror,” the newspaper said. “[Merkel’s] chancellery is baffled as to why the British are being so stubborn … Why are the British so set on escalation?

“It’s particularly hot for the British because often it’s about straightforward spying, as well as terrorism hunting. 

This would definitely be against the European spirit on the continent, perhaps a breach of the European treaties,” it added.

The letter to Merkel’s Chief of Staff was met with dismay when it was leaked to the press.

Merkel’s aides attempted to persuade MPs on the committee to censor revelations about UK activity, causing a row. The committee members were so displeased that two are currently threatening to take the issue to Germany’s Supreme Court.

“The British are horrified that these things could become public via the committee,” a source, said to be a senior German government official, told Focus.

The magazine also quotes an intelligence official saying: “We would be blind without the signals intelligence from the Americans and the British. 

Virtually all important tips on countering terror in this country have come from the Anglo-American services.”

It is believed the US currently reviews what information is fed to German authorities on a case-by-case basis, whereas Britain simply refuses.

“We can’t just exclude Great Britain,” Patrick Sensburg, the Christian Democrat MP chairing the committee, told the newspaper. “Then the Americans will write a similar letter tomorrow and we will have to give up.”

This news bureau contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.  We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

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Snowden Ready To Return To U.S. If Promised Fair Trial, Lawyer Says

"Fair trial" a fantasy in Obama gulag; Ed Snowden would be going to his death, even if he managed to reach the U.S. before being killed or flown into a CIA black site in Poland  

NEWSWEEK
By Lauren Walker
03/03/2015

"Edward Snowden is ready to return to the U.S.," the former National Security Agency analyst's attorney, Anatoly Kucherena, said at a news conference in Russia on Tuesday, "but on the condition that he will be given guarantees on receiving a fair and impartial trial," Tass Russian News Agency reports.

Snowden return to U.S. a very bad idea

"He has a desire to return, and we are doing everything we can to make it happen,” he said, adding that a group of attorneys from around the world are working together on his return. 

Snowden fled to Russia from Hong Kong in 2013 after leaking classified information to journalists regarding U.S. national security. 

Though his temporary asylum in Russia expired in August, he remains in the country on a three-year residence permit. 

In 2013, Kucherena received a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder promising that Snowden would not face the death penalty if he returned to the U.S. But Kucherena wants more—assurances that his trial would be fair. 

Snowden would be making a huge mistake putting his fate in the hands of these two lying, murdering treasonous bastards

“That is, they guarantee that Snowden will not be executed, not that he will receive a fair trial. And it is guaranteed by attorney [general] who cannot even influence court decisions according to law,” Kucherena said. 

Snowden told Brian Williams in May that he wanted to return to the U.S., but not to “walk into a jail cell" because that would serve as a "bad example for other people who see something happen, some violation of the Constitution, and think they need to say something about it.”

Ed Snowden would do well to remember these images before getting any plane bound for the U.S.

Snowden contends that he was acting in the national interest by releasing the classified information in 2013.

"Being a patriot means knowing when to protect your country and knowing when to protect the Constitution against the encroachment of adversaries. Adversaries don’t have to be foreign countries. They can be bad policies,” hetold Williams in May.

But the laws that would be used to prosecute him, namely espionage laws, do not take into account whether the information should have been held from the public in the first place, said Ben Wizner, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union. 

It is unclear the extent of the charges Snowden would face if he returned, but “he could be charged for each of the documents that has been published,” Wizner told The Guardian.

This news bureau contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.  We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

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