Wikileaks reveals secret suppression order of corruption case

This story, in the midst of everything else eluded me

If you still harbour any illusions that fascism has not reached the shores of Australia, then read this!

I would counsel mass civil disobedience

As far as I can ascertain this whole story seems to be under a 'suppression order' in the New Zealand media

Social media users could be charged for sharing Wikileaks story

Social Media ia users could land themselves in legal hot water if they share Wikileaks' reporting of a secret suppression order made by the Victorian Supreme Court.

SMH,

30 July, 2014

The wide-ranging suppression order was published on the group's website on Wednesday and was quickly shared on websites including Twitter and Google+.

Fairfax Media's report of Wikileaks' action created a strong response on social media, and was shared thousands of times within minutes of the exclusive report's publication.

It is against the law for Australian media organisations to publish the contents of the suppression order.

Media lawyer Peter Bartlett, from Minter Ellison, said anyone who tweets a link to the Wikileaks report, posts it on Facebook, or shares it in any way online could also face charges.

Using a hashtag such as "Wikileaks" is not in breach of the order but any mention on social media of the information detailed in it, such as people's names, is banned.

Mr Bartlett said it would be difficult to prosecute Wikileaks and its publisher, Julian Assange, given they are outside Victoria. Mr Assange remains at the Ecuador embassy in London where he has been given political asylum to avoid being extradited to the United States in relation to the leaking of secret US documents.

However, any Victorian social media users, or the person who gave the documents to Wikileaks, may be easier to find and prosecute.

"Unless someone within Australia somehow authorised or was deemed to have published that suppression order on Wikileaks it would be difficult to find someone to prosecute," Mr Bartlett said.

"The person within the state of Victoria who has sent the suppression order to Wikileaks themselves has breached the suppression order so if police could find that person they could prosecute them."

Mr Bartlett said he did not know of any person being prosecuted for sharing a court order on social media.

A case involving former Manchester United player Ryan Giggs sparked debate in England about the effectiveness of court orders given the prevalence of social media.

Giggs went to court to try to stop The Sun newspaper from publishing details of his extra-marital affair. The court initially banned the publication of his identity but the court's order was then widely disseminated through social media and tweeted by about 500,000 people.

Giggs' case against the newspaper was eventually thrown out of court and no one was charged in relation to the tweets.

A Victorian Supreme Court spokeswoman would not comment on the Wikileaks publication or if the court would refer the matter to police.

Australia bans reporting of multi-nation corruption case involving Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam

https://wikileaks.org/aus-suppression-order/?gag

Today, 29 July 2014, WikiLeaks releases an unprecedented Australian censorship order concerning a multi-million dollar corruption case explicitly naming the current and past heads of state of Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, their relatives and other senior officials. The super-injunction invokes “national security” grounds to prevent reporting about the case, by anyone, in order to “prevent damage to Australia's international relations”. The court-issued gag order follows the secret 19 June 2014 indictment of seven senior executives from subsidiaries of Australia's central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). The case concerns allegations of multi-million dollar inducements made by agents of the RBA subsidiaries Securency and Note Printing Australia in order to secure contracts for the supply of Australian-style polymer bank notes to the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries.


Read the full press release here.

This is from today.

The Abbott government is proving as inept as any other fascist government (or junta) anywhere else around the world

Indonesia demands explanation from Australia over WikiLeaks-published court order

The Australian government’s attempts to protect international relations by suppressing details of a sensitive court case in Victoria appeared to have backfired, prompting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to demand an explanation.

SMH,

30 July, 2014

Apparently in response, the Australian government released an extraordinary statement late on Thursday saying that the “Indonesian President and the former president are not the subject” of court proceedings which Australian media outlets are otherwise banned from reporting.

A blanket suppression order prevents Fairfax Media and other Australian outlets reporting the contents of the Victorian Supreme Court case, an affidavit in the case, or even the suppression order itself. The order was sought to protect the reputation of international leaders.

But the order was published on international site WikiLeaks, where it can be read.

After the document was uploaded, Dr Yuhoyono insisted that Australia immediately clarify why his name had been mentioned in such a context.

"I ask that Australia issue a statement that both [former president] Megawati [Sukarnoputri]] and my names are unstained, and so they do not defame other Indonesian officials. We want to hear directly from Australia," Dr Yudhoyono said, as reported by news portal Viva.

He later took to Twitter to add to his comments.

“The Government of Australia should be completely open and make transparent its law enforcement process and not cover it up”, the president tweeted.

Another said: “The Government of Australia should not issue policies or statements that may raise suspicion about people who are outside Australia”.

It was on his Twitter account in November last year where Dr Yudhoyono first made clear his displeasure at Mr Abbott’s responses to the spying revelations.

Late on Thursday, the Department of Foreign Affairs put out a statement headlined: “Suppression orders: Securency court proceedings”, saying the case “names a large number of individuals” but that “the naming of such figures in the orders does not imply wrongdoing on their part”.

“The Australian Government obtained suppression orders to prevent publication of information that could suggest the involvement in corruption of specific senior political figures in the region, whether in fact they were or not,” the statement says.

“The Government considers that the suppression orders remain the best means for protecting the senior political figures from the risk of unwarranted innuendo … The Government stresses that the Indonesian President and the former President are not the subject of the Securency proceedings.”

But the innuendo reached the ears of the Indonesian President, who is already suspicious of the government over revelations that, in 2007, Australia tapped his phone and the phones of his wife and inner circle.

The revelation, and its mishandling by the Abbott government, plunged relations between the two countries into turmoil and negotiations over a “code of conduct” to govern such spying have been under way since last December. The issue had been expected to be resolved by next month.

But on Thursday Dr Yudhoyono said his Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, had been in contact with his ambassador in Australia, as well as with Australia’s ambassador in Jakarta to discuss the latest disruption to the relationship.

Dr Yudhoyono requested that the government of Tony Abbott reveal to Indonesia as clearly as possible which officials were under suspicion, both in Australia and in Indonesia.

“If there are elements of this case in Indonesia, for example, please tell us who is involved … If law breaking is suspected, what is the case? And if it does exist, please work with the Indonesian corruption eradication commission (KPK),” Dr Yudhoyono said.

"Indonesia is now the midst of implementing an aggressive campaign against corruption. If there are elements in Indonesia who are considered to be engaged, please reveal who they are.”