A person discussed in this blog post I’m recapping today, is having a birthday this week. Without permission, I won’t say who, unless she identifies herself. She’s a brilliant and caring person. Please read it and be sure to come back here, because there’s more.
Happy Birthday Friend.
Speaking of persons who Walk the Walk, that is, live what they espouse, an Australian man, filmmaker, James Ricketson,
was today, in a Cambodian court, convicted on trumped up charges of espionage for an unnamed country. He was sentenced to six years in a Cambodian prison without mattresses, or other basic necessities. He’s already done one year, since he allegedly flew a drone over an opposition rally (the opposition party were then outlawed before the Cambodian election.)
I signed a petition to the Australian Foreign Minister, some months ago , asking her to get him out of jail, our government didn’t even have the grace to publically say he wasn’t a spy! Ricketson has had a career as a filmmaker, the great director Peter Weir testified for him in court this week. He also lived among poor people in Cambodia and told their stories. He loved them, and maybe now he will die for them, because his health has been getting dangerously bad in jail. His family believe he will not survive six more years there.
I will say this. The Cambodian government needs to know they are creating an Australian martyr. That is a really bad idea. Australian journalists that were murdered in Indonesia went down in history here, we did not forget, decades later we still keep their memories alive.
Journalists, writers, filmmakers, playwriters, artists, musicians, comedians are the eyes, ears and mouthpieces of the world and embarrassing to some governments. But there is something worse for those governments, making those people into martyrs by killing them.The legend of good, principled people outlasts their murders. Please, if you care about human rights, sign the petition for Ricketson to be freed, below.
Please, please sign this petition to the Australian foreign minister, read about the conditions Ricketson is slowly dying in:
