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Artist and activist Carl Scrase says we cannot condemn the Russian persecution of Pussy Riot, unless we look at our own Government’s treatment of Julian Assange.
I have been a huge supporter of Pussy Riot, but late last week I came to the realisation that we, as westerners, cannot condemn Russia for persecuting the radical arts while our own government is implicit in the unlawful witch hunt for Julian Assange — not unless we analyse both with the same vigour and enthusiasm.
The mainstream media has lapped up the opportunity to paint Russia as evil authoritarians with the assertion that we are free and enlightened. I urge all the well-meaning Pussy Riot supporters that are adopting the fantastic punk feminist aesthetics of the Russian activists to be aware that there will be some that try to manipulate their protests for the purposes of pro-West dogma.
I commented in a few Australian Pussy Riot online forums over the weekend. I felt it necessary to remind people that Julian Assange is Australian, he is a radical artist of the highest order and has been left out to dry by the Australian government. There were lots of people liking and a few negative comments.
On Sunday night, Assange stood on the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy and echoed my thoughts. He supported Pussy Riot and called for a united stance against global oppression. Assange said:
“There is unity in the oppression, there must be absolute unity and determination in the response.”
This is a worldwide systemic problem that is bought about by the rule of power and men. We need to stand as one social movement to bring in a new way of being. There will always great support for Pussy Riot from Assange fans. I hope there will also be some colourful balaclavas at the next action in support of Julian Assange.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
2 Comments
And I knew the racist attacks on Ecuador would begin as soon as they had the temerity to grant Assange asylum.
But the cries about Ecuador’s media was just a bit too much to take. From the USA, Australia and the UK media outlets had the extraordinary gall to imply Ecuador’s press (which has over 50 independent TV and newspapers) was gagged. These criticisms from countries under the yoke of a Murdochracy that has promoted illegal wars.
Eh, almost switched off after you threw in the obligatory “westerners” in your opening sentence. Is that the intention? Kind of like trendy clothing stores playing blaring music to keep out old people?
Anyway, we certainly can condemn Russia on this one, regardless of anyones view on the treatment of Julian Assange. When we start handing down jail terms for dancing in churches, you might have a point. Until then, save it for your comrades.
Interesting that you recognise Assange as an artist. I agree. His favourite medium is the media. He is able to surround all the attention on himself(which is positive for promoting wikileaks) while at the same time making everyone completely forget about Bradley Manning. Which I guess is also good for wikileaks, coz whistle-blowing is like cool and everything to the kids, provided one isn’t aware of the legal repercussions.
Oscar yeah the media are cringe inducing with their “free speech” mantra, and not just Ecuador. I don’t know much about the situation in Ecuador, but the worst accusations I can see are that the President is suing media organisations for libel, and shifting the governments advertising spending from private to public broadcasters. Both of which sound perfectly reasonable and logical. What is the point of giving business to a private company to broadcast your message if they are simply going to bookend it with negative editorials? If the President wants his ads seen, then he has to compete with all the independent stations for viewers(which are not getting shut down). And with the libel, well, after witnessing the deliberate, prolonged defamation campaigns being run by Australia’s own elite hacks, I wish our own Government had his chutzpah.
Did you see Christine Assange having Nazi slurs against her in a live radio interview? She refused to do the interview as the host had been “acting like a pig” to the previous guest. Upon being told this by Christine, the host shouts “SEIG HEIL! SEIG HEIL! SIEG HEIL!” down the phone, and she promptly hung up.
The hosts reasoning goes like this:
* he was trying to make a point on perceived hypocrisy from Assange in accepting sanctuary from someone who is supposedly repressing press freedoms(by suing them for lies and taking his business elsewhere lol). In making his point, he completely shouted down his previous guest, not allowing her to make her point, thereby taking away her “freedom of speech”.
* Ms Assange exercising her freedom of speech by choosing not speak to the host is seen by him as her “trying to censor me” and ‘take away my freedom of speech’.
* Says he felt strongly that he was being censored and not allowed to voice his opinion. Apparently this can be caused by someone not answering his questions. He says the only thing appropriate to compare it to was the Nazis, hence his outburst.
Just how stupid is this guy? A man with a radio program and audience following is somehow being “silenced” when he cannot compel someone to talk to him? WWHD?(What would Hitler do?). He has got completely backwards his definitions on freedom of speech, censorship, and fascism.