95bFM: The 95bFM Monday Wire with Will Pollard

The 95bFM Monday Wire with Will Pollard, October 11th.

12.15 Beth Schwanke, spokesperson for Freedom Now,

& Margaret Taylor, Activism Support Manager for Amnesty International NZ.

This years Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liu Xiaobo, widely considered to be Chinas most prominent political dissident. The decision was announced on Friday by the Nobel committee, who cited his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China as the reason for their choice. In 2009 Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison for inciting subversion of state power, after co-authoring a charter which called for greater political freedoms. Now his wife is facing detention by local authorities after informing her husband of his award during a prison visit. The prize seems to be a validation of Lius struggle by the international community but what will it mean for his situation? Freedom Now are a Washington D.C.-based NGO who represent Liu on the international stage, and I interviewed their spokesperson, Beth Schwanke, earlier today, and Ill play that brief interview before speaking to Margaret Taylor from Amnesty International.

12.30 Len Brown, Auckland Mayor-Elect

Then at around half past midday well have man-of-the-hour Len Brown on the show, following his weekend win the Auckland local body elections. Is he disappointed that he wont actually have the title Super Mayor? Will he have to wear all the mayoral chains of office at once? What does he see as his biggest challenge in the coming months? Listen in to find out.

12.35 Matt McCarten, Politico

And now that the Super City elections have come and gone, leaving us with Len Brown at the head of the amalgamated council from November, Aucklands political landscape looks a bit different. Browns council is to be comprised mainly of independent and left-leaning candidates, a departure from the domination of Citizens & Ratepayers councillors in recent years. What will this mean for the direction of our fine city? And how do we think the proponents of the Super City project, Local Government Minister Rodney Hide and co., feel about the council that they have been handed by the voters? Well be talking to political commentator Matt McCarten to hear his analysis at around 12.35pm.

12.45 Ben Gracewood, Tech/Media Commentator

And lastly, its possible that the more than 22 million Facebook users in Turkey may soon have trouble logging on to poke their friends if the government there moves to ban the popular social media site. It wouldnt be the first time this kind of thing has happened in Turkey, where access to YouTube and other websites has been blocked in the past. Facebook has now been put centre stage as a result of a court case filed by the leader of the opposition party, the Republican Peoples Party. He filed a criminal complaint over a Facebook group claiming that he was a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Whether or not the ban will actually come into effect, it raises questions about the issue of internet censorship in Turkey as well as the rest of the world. Should we allow politicians to dictate the content of the internet? Well be speaking to technology commentator Ben Gracewood at around quarter to one.

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