Well-known Europeans call for release of jailed US reporter

[flygal]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050823/en_afp/usjusticemediaeurope_050823182527

snip

NEW YORK (AFP) - More than two dozen European personalities, including filmmakers Pedro Almodovar and Wim Wenders and novelist Gunter Grass called for the release of a New York Times reporter jailed for refusing to reveal her sources.

The call came in a petition, organised by the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, urging the US courts to free Judith Miller who will have been in prison for 50 days on Wednesday.

"At a time when the most extremist ideas are gaining ground, and when growing numbers of reporters are being killed or taken hostage, arresting a journalist in a democratic country is more than a crime: it's a miscarriage of justice," the petition said.

"After this, how can we demand that other countries in the world respect freedom of expression and information-one of the pillars of democracy?" it added.

[iconoclastic cat]

1. Idiots: She's in prison for protecting and aiding the GOVERNMENT

in defrauding the CITIZENS.

Twits.

[CHIMO]

2. “Reporters without borders” serve US government intrests

For twenty years, the french organisation “Reporters without borders” (RSF/ http://www.rsf.org ) exists, for twenty years Robert Ménard presides over this organisation, and for twenty years the rumours have never stopped, that there are close relationships to the US secret service CIA and other government authorities of the USA.

Lately the hints and investigations point directly to the RSF being financed by US state departments. The journalist Diana Barahona reported ( http://www.newsguild.org/gr/gr_display.php?storyID=2213 ) in the US journalist association “The Newspaper Guild” ( http://www.newsguild.org ) about the RSF being financed by NED ( http://www.ned.org ) .

Because of the pressure on Ménard, he had to officially acknowledge the financing.
In a forum of the french weekly magazine “Le Nouvel Observateur” Ménard was asked directly by a user about the investigations by Barahona.
He replied then: “Yes, exactly, we receive money by the NED and that is not any problem for us.”

But it should be a problem, if only because this money doesn't appear in the statement of accounts of the organisation. ( http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10589) .

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/05/311313.html

Seems to be wheels within wheels.

[Judi Lynn]

4. It's damned sad. Pompous asses.

They're desperately out of step with things in this hemisphere, and often attack Latin American countries which don't suck up to Washington. They've been remarkably wrong at times.

Slugs in sheep's clothing.

[tocqueville]

6. they are very controversial in France

if you French Google RSF you'll find more links talking AGAINST them than for

[Judi Lynn]

10. Glad to hear you say that. Didn't know.

Hope it eventually drives them outta business.

[Supersedeas]

7. Payola to the Media organization when Miller was vacationing in Paris?

[tocqueville]

3. it's because they don't understand the issue

they should be informed

I mailed personally reporters without borders

[tocqueville]

11. I mean Aldomovar and Co

RSF has little credibility now

[bpilgrim]

5. More IMAGE Problems for TEAM AMERICA

http://media.globalfreepress.com

peace

[Jim Sagle]

8. Whadda buncha goddamn bozos.

[...of J.Temperance]

9. Disappointed in Pedro Almodovar, I THOUGHT he had MORE sense n/t

[librechik]

12. kneejerk leftists

would do well to look into the nuances of Judith's case before they make demands.

Oh, if ONLY it were a first amendment issue.
However, looks are deceiving.

Please do more research, Euro Lefties!

[htuttle]

13. Her attorney must be going through her rolex making calls

Apparently, she's given up on getting sprung by The Family, and has fallen to using her own devices.

Interesting.

[Moderator]

14. kick

[sabra]

15. Europeans join campaign to free jailed US journalist (Judith Miller)

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article307976.ece

Europeans join campaign to free jailed US journalist

Leading figures from the arts and media in Europe have joined forces to appeal to Washington for the release of Judith Miller, the veteran New York Times reporter who yesterday marked her 50th day in prison for refusing to testify in the inquiry into the leaking of the identity of the CIA operative Valerie Plame.

"At a time when the most extremist ideas are gaining ground, and when growing numbers of reporters are being killed or taken hostage, arresting a journalist in a democratic country is more than a crime: it's a miscarriage of justice," the group said. Its 27 members include the Spanish film director, Pedro Almódovar, the German literary Nobel laureate, Gunther Grass, and the former chief BBC reporter, Kate Adie.

Ms Miller was sent to a federal prison in the Virginia suburbs outside Washington DC on 6 July for refusing to reveal her sources in the case of Ms Plame, whose identity as a CIA agent was revealed to American journalists in 2003, apparently in violation of federal law.

....

Democrats said Ms Plame's name was leaked by the White House in retaliation against her husband, ambassador Joseph Wilson, who wrote an article in The New York Times accusing the Bush team of overstating the evidence regarding Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction.

[Cha]

16. Maybe we should write them

and tell them the real reason judy miller is in jail and it's not cause she's a martyr.

Just goes to show ya..A Little Learning is a Dangerous Thing!

[tocqueville]

23. WRITE TO THE BIGGER EU PAPERS

but not to RSF (reporters sans frontières - reporters without borders). Their spokeperson Ménard is a media whore and taking money from the CIA. I wrote to them and didn't get an answer.

BTW 99% of the Europeans don't know who Judith Miller is and don't give a fuck about her. If they hear something about her, they just think it's Bush fault if someone is in jail...

Anyway if (when) Rove falls, Miller will follow with him. And they'll look pretty stupid.

[Virginian]

28. If she is covering for Rove, why didn't he release her, too?

I think she is covering for Bolton.

[Burried News]

17. Gossip Columnist in NY Post says Miller looking frail.

[stepnw1f]

18. Is This BS?

This sure smells like a stunt.

BTW - Judith is not a victim. She was protecting and serving an act of Treason against Our Country.

[Skink]

20. Let her sweat out the rest of the Bush admin.

And I'm figuring Jeb will be in for 8 and then that P Bush guy in Florida after we have finally totally succumbed to Diebold.

[stepnw1f]

24. Not While I'm Alive (nt)

[despairing optimist]

19. Why don't the Europeans free us from bad US journalism?

It would be a better campaign. Judith Miller is in the right place for the wrong reasons, but in this case the end justifies the means. Karl Rove is no Deep Throat, and journalists are not above the law. Shield laws exist because of compelling public interest in protecting sources of information who come forward in the public interest. Blowing Valerie Plame's cover served no interest but the Bush cabal's.

[Lori Price CLG]

21. What 'journalist?' Judith Miller is just a GOP whore. n/t

[despairing optimist]

22. Miller and Tom Friedman may well be on US gov't. payroll

Set up with Pulitzer prizes to give them an aura of respectability and authority. No tinfoil hat needed here. This sort of cover has been done many times before in the past half-century or so. It would explain many things.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

25. Me likey the molecular structure of your tin.

Not a stretch at all.

[wli]

26. She's not a journalist, but an Operation Mockingbird agent. n/t

[Al-CIAda]

27. THE PAUL MORAN STORY

THE PAUL MORAN STORY
July 23, 2003
(20:17 min)
 
Paul Moran died after a suicide bombing in Iraq.  He was a reporter for ABC, and one of the strongest voices along with Judith Miller of the New York Times, to claim Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.  At his funeral it raised eyebrows when CIA, FBI, and other secret agents popped up to pay their respects.  In this report, an investigation in how the secret service operates within the mainstream media. 
 
Watch Online
http://203.15.102.143:8080/ramgen/media/dl_030724b.rm

[fujiyama]

29. Sorry no sympathy

I certainly do believe that sources should be protected, but in this case it is a matter of national security. Compromising the identity of a covert CIA operative, especially with the sole intention of political retaliation is a serious crime.

Maybe these journalists should realize what this case is really about or maybe they should protest the US restrictions on journalists in Iraq.

[Oerdin]

30. Screw the source.

A felony has been convicted; an undercover agent has been exposed and tens of millions of dollars spent on creating CIA front companies is down the toilet. You can bet foreign intelligence agencies are following the leads and exposing still more. You get one agent's name and you figure out where they worked and who else worked there then you follow up all of those agents and continue until you've exposed most of the operation and front companies.

[fujiyama]

31. In most cases

it is an important journalistic principle to allow the protection of sources.

But in this case, as you said, a felony was commited and by refusing to reveal the identity of an alleged criminal, she's nothing short of an accomplice to this crime.