Monday 31 July 2023

Gonzalo Lira



1 Jun 2023 — US citizen Gonzalo Lira faces a long prison term in Ukraine for criticizing the country's government. Shunned by the US government, his father ...

posted by Anon @ 02:23   4 Comments

4 Comments:

At 31 July 2023 at 04:01 , Blogger Unknown said...

I'm afraid that American 'rights to free speech' only exist under US jurisdiction and even then, by no means all the time, particularly if you hate Joe Biden.

Any American living overseas should be mindful of local laws and customs before expressing opinions which may cause them to be incarcerated.

I agree with what Lira has said, but unfortunately there are often consequences to challenging an Establishment. I learned about the uK Security Services the same way Lira is learning about the Ukrainian ones, when speaking out forcefully against the Iraq warmongers.

 
At 31 July 2023 at 05:03 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Even many of Gonzalo Lira's followers are puzzled as to why he stayed as a foreigner within Kiev-controlled Ukraine and continued to broadcast pro-Russian media from there, thumbing his nose at the US and NATO as well as Kiev. But now Lira seeks USA gov't assistance.

As the Grayzone article linked above notes, Lira had been arrested previously by Kiev, detained a short while, and released ... but he did not take the hint to get out? Was it just naive foolishness ... or some kind of misguided desire for fame and drama?

It should be well understood that countries at war, especially wars perceived as existential, change their legal frameworks, aborting traditional liberties, as Britain did during WW2. When truth during war can be de-moralising and cost lives, it is more common to suppress it. One must speak the truth from a safe haven, or accept the risks of saying it where you are.

One can contrast the arrest of Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin by Moscow on similar charges for his anti-government communications
http://aanirfan.blogspot.com/2023/07/girkin-putin-mh17.html

Strelkov is native Russian and a national hero there for his leading role in the 2014 Donbass rebellion ... Strelkov spoke his ideas and claims about the Kremlin being too soft on the war, with his eyes open, Strelkov explicitly spoke of being possibly arrested, a fate which he accepted.

Look at this photo of Strelkov in court after his arrest, being told he will stay in jail until a late September court proceeding ... the media mob there seen in the wall holding the prisoner ... Strelkov is stoic, at peace with himself, a hint of a smile even, events unfolding as he guessed they might
https://i.4pcdn.org/pol/1690051241972909.jpg

Strelkov made a conscious decision to risk prison, as the best step he could take to fight for the nationalist Russia he sees now in danger. A good part of Russia is ill at ease with his arrest, even people who disagree with him, given perceptions of his heroic past.

Russians are now remembering how under the Soviet Union, former national heroes were also sometimes arrested, even killed. They have updated an old Soviet-era joke:

Three prisoners meet in the exercise yard of a Moscow jail. They begin to ask each other on what charge they were arrested.
First man:
'I was charged with public slander of national hero of Russia Strelkov'
Second man:
'I was charged with public support of national traitor of Russia Strelkov'
Third man:
'I am Stelkov'

 
At 1 August 2023 at 15:06 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Some are reporting Gonzalo Lira as re-arrested but that does not seem confirmed

A Twitter user very active on Ukraine, Mark Sleboda, says Lira was not able to get through the Ukraine border to Hungary, but has not been captured yet ... tho his source is unknown
https://nitter.net/MarkSleboda1/status/1686380563018706944

This below is Gonzalo Lira's Twitter account via the Nitter reading interface, nothing updated since he described making the dash for the border (at this moment the 2nd tweet, at top is a much older 'pinned' tweet)
https://nitter.net/GonzaloLira1968/

If Lira did make it into Hungary, Hungary may have taken his mobile away and blocked communication, so as not to inflame matters with neighbour Ukraine, and might be working to quietly pass him onwards

 
At 2 August 2023 at 14:35 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Latest on the strange saga of Gonzalo Lira

USA American trans-gender Sarah Ashton-Cirillo - now a sergeant in the Ukraine military, and doing English-language media for the Armed Forces of Ukraine - is boasting about Ukraine's tracking of Gonzalo Lira as he tried to escape to Hungary over the Ukraine border, writing that:
'The SBU [Security Service Ukraine] are among the most professional law enforcement agents on the globe.
They no doubt knew where Gonzalo Lira was the whole time.
Watch and share the truth about Gonzalo Lira’s “escape” from Ukraine.'

Tho it still seems unclear from the sergeant's 20-second video in the tweet, where Gonzalo Lira is right now.

screenshot image of tweet, picturing Sergeant Ashton-Cirillo
https://i.4pcdn.org/pol/1691010323575857.jpg
tweet
https://nitter.net/SarahAshtonLV/status/1686416881073246215

 

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