Whistleblower, anti-war activist Daniel Ellsberg a contender for 2019 Nobel Peace Prize
Record ID:
1435697
Whistleblower, anti-war activist Daniel Ellsberg a contender for 2019 Nobel Peace Prize
- Title: Whistleblower, anti-war activist Daniel Ellsberg a contender for 2019 Nobel Peace Prize
- Date: 28th September 2019
- Summary: Anti-war activist Daniel Ellsberg condemned calls for prosecution of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (FILE - DECEMBER 16, 2010) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ELLSBERG STANDING AT PODIUM AT NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEAKER OF PENTAGON PAPERS, DR. DANIEL ELLSBERG, SAYING: "An execution or even really even a conviction of Julian Assange in particular and Bradley Manning at this time would mean that the Crown had returned to America. That it fitted on the head of an American president and that we were really under a monarchical system of total control of information which makes real democracy impossible. So we applaud the Australians who are speaking up for the role of international law, the role that that plays in world order and in real security. A rule of law that has been flaunted by two administrations now by for the last nine years in this country. Under George W. Bush and now under Barack Obama who's continued comparable policies which are both unconstitutional and against the rule of law in general. So we applaud, I admire Bradley Manning, who's a hero of mine. I'd do the same for Julian Assange, which does not mean that I have to agree with everything that either of them did or that they can't make mistakes, they're human or that I can't disagree. It does mean that I think they're performing a very important service for this country and for the people of the world. I see Bradley Manning as a patriot. I'm sure that Julian Assange has been an Australian patriot. To call them terrorists is not only mistaken, it's absurd and slanderous. Neither of them are any more terrorists than I am and I'm not." REPORTERS TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEAKER OF PENTAGON PAPERS, DR. DANIEL ELLSBERG, SAYING: "People have said to my face, well you know, you were treated very well and now they're very angry at Assange. And I said, you know, I was put on trial, the first person ever to be put on trial facing 115 years in prison. The president did send people literally to assassinate me or the words were to incapacitate Daniel Ellsberg totally. Now there is a difference. That was done covertly. It was a secret, which when revealed, threatened Nixon with impeachment and led to his resignation. That is a difference in attitude, not in behaviour, but in public attitude. Now, even the president can speak openly of the possibility of assassinating an American citizen. Assange is not an American citizen, but even if he were, the president himself and his intelligence people have asserted the right to assassinate American citizens abroad. This is an appalling assertion of monarchical power. I'm not sure George III would have even asserted such a power but certainly, or anyone since John I exactly. It negates the Magna Carta essentially as we're doing in a number of other ways." ELLSBERG HOLDING UP NEWSPAPER AD CALLING FOR THE FAIR TREATMENT OF ASSANGE, HEADLINE READING: ''Wikileaks are not terrorists.'' / ZOOM OUT TO SHOW ELLSBERG Protesters rallied outside a U.S. Federal Courthouse in New York on Wednesday (February 6) to support a lawsuit against the government to end indefinite detentions. Among those outside in support of the lawsuit was Daniel Ellsberg. Ellsberg, who in 1969 leaked the "Pentagon Papers" revealing that the government understood the likelihood of losing the Vietnam War, most recently co-founded the Freedom of the Press Foundation last year. NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - FEBRUARY 6, 2013) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS OUTSIDE FEDERAL COURTHOUSE IN MANHATTAN FRONT OF COURTHOUSE PROTESTERS HOLDING PLACARDS DECLARING "ABUSED" RIGHTS, READING: ''The right to freedom/the right to stop crimes against humanity/the right to stop abuse of power etc.'' NEW YORK POLICE OBSERVING PROTESTERS ELLSBERG TALKING TO PROTESTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEAKER OF PENTAGON PAPERS AND FOUNDER OF FREEDOM OF THE PRESS FOUNDATION, DR. DANIEL ELLSBERG, SAYING: "Well, I think that our Constitution has been under assault for ten years now, mostly covertly. At first, they simply lied they were doing it, that they weren't torturing anybody; weren't sending anybody to rendition. Now, they're openly proclaiming it. I think they've laid down the gauge here, laid down the challenge to the American public as a whole." PROTESTERS HOLDING PLACARDS DECLARING "ABUSED" RIGHTS, READING: ''The right to freedom/the right to stop crimes against humanity/the right to stop abuse of power etc.'' PLACARD READING: ''The right to stop abuse of power''
- Embargoed: 12th October 2019 09:18
- Keywords: Vietnam papers leaks Daniel Ellsberg Richard Nixon Watergate Nobel
- Location: DA NANG REGION, SOUTH VIETNAM/ BOSTON, LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK, WASHINGTON D.C., CRAWFORD, USA/ UNKNOWN LOCATION, USA
- City: DA NANG REGION, SOUTH VIETNAM/ BOSTON, LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK, WASHINGTON D.C., CRAWFORD, USA/ UNKNOWN LOCATION, USA
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA00EAYGDTTZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:PLEASE NOTE - QUALITY AS INCOMING
Daniel Ellsberg, a former military intelligence contractor who leaked the "Pentagon Papers", a secret government history of the Vietnam War in 1971, is a contender for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
Born on April 7, 1931, Ellsberg is an American economist, anti-war activist and former United States military analyst.
In 1971, whilst working for the RAND Corporation, Ellsberg gave rise to a national political controversy by releasing the Pentagon Papers - a top-secret study of the U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War - to The New York Times and other newspapers.
In 1973 he was put on trial charged with espionage, theft and conspiracy, carrying a total maximum sentence of 115 years. But due to evidence of governmental misconduct and illegal evidence-gathering, Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr. dismissed all charges against Ellsberg on May 11, 1973.
He has since won the Right Livelihood Award in 2006 and was awarded the Olof Palme Prize in 2018.
The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced in Oslo on Friday, October 11, at 1100 a.m. (0900GMT) and the prize, worth 9 million Swedish crowns ($1.12 million), will be handed over on December 10, 2019.
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