Protection for They Who Expose Bad Things
Protection for They Who Expose Bad Things: RIP Jamal Khashoggi.
Turkish officials have audio and video evidence that shows missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkish intelligence say they have "documented evidence" of the murder. Saudi Arabia denies the allegations.
Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government, has not been seen since he entered the building on 2 October.
Some now ask: If this could happen to someone as well known and well connected as Jamal Khashoggi, a US resident and Washington Post writer, what else could happen to the less well-known? *(BBC)
Well, as you ask, try this, mate.
Previously unknown
In January 2010, Chelsea Manning downloaded the 491,000 documents that became known as the Iraq War logs and as part of the Afghan War logs. Manning decided to pass the data to WikiLeaks
This included the Baghdad helicopter attack ("Collateral murder") video in a Judge Advocate's directory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25EWUUBjPMo
Manning was not murdered but she was sentenced to serve a 35-year sentence at the maximum-security for telling the world about American War Crimes.
Previously Unknown
Unlike Manning’s case, where mainstream US media ignored the information she presented to them, in Edward Snowden’s case, the classified information that he leaked in 2013 was run by to journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Ewen MacAskill and in The Guardian and The Washington Post. Further disclosures were made by other publications including Der Spiegel and The New York Times.
On June 14, 2013, United States federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Snowden, charging him with theft of government property and two counts of violating the Espionage Act of 1917.
As a result of informing the “international community” of US spying, Snowden is now banished from the American basin of freedom of speech which is the soul of democracy. Currently he may be found in Russia.
Julian Assange as we all know was, like Khashoggi, well known before being incarcerated for being a conduit of American war crimes to the “international community”, so his case does not fit the criteria of the “less well known”, in this brief quest to explore: “what else could happen to the less well-known?”
As Voltaire penned: It is dangerous to be right when the Establishments is wrong.
Ross Meurant,
International businessman, Honorary diplomat, former Member
of Parliament, author. www.rossmeurant.co.nz 13 October
2019