Naive idealist, Jennifer Robinson
The Oz Martyrs Brigade, Julian Assange and Jennifer Robinson
by zed Thursday, Mar 1 2012, 10:44pm
international /
injustice/law /
commentary
One wonders at times whether it's insularity, dissociative narcissism or just plain martyr complexes induced by adolescent naivety, idealism and perhaps one too many ‘martinis’ or bottles of ‘gushing’ red wine that place people in circumstances destined to fail tragically.
Naive idealist, Jennifer Robinson
A curious and revealing article about Assange’s Australian lawyer/adviser Jennifer Robinson, appeared in The Australian today titled, “Julian Assange's homegrown hardnosed lawyer Jennifer Robinson” written by one Adam ‘Cretin,’ apparently an old uni associate of Ms Robinson’s. Whether Robinson approved or vetted this unflattering piece (below) is unknown but it reeks of female adolescent ‘save the world’ syndrome and enormous amounts of naivety, which is unusual for a "hardnosed" lawyer, one would think, Mr ‘Cretin?’
Surely, a bright young thing like Jennifer Robinson is aware that openly – as opposed to surreptitiously or anonymously -- taking on a global criminal empire comes with a very hefty price tag. Assange’s ongoing and deteriorating predicament is no surprise to anyone that is engaged in opposing and subverting criminal organisations.
From the time that Octavian murdered Cleopatra and engineered the crime to look like suicide, to today, where the corrupt and partial ICC and UN seem blind to the NUMEROUS crimes against humanity committed by the US and NATO, an unsavoury but enduring REALITY persists, the criminal machinations of State and its unjust (heinous) political methods.
Surely Ms Robinson is aware of the new indefinite detention law recently passed in the USA – does she or Assange expect JUSTICE from a State that imposes such a ‘LAW’ on the population? Give your next bottle of red a break and don’t drink it, Ms Robinson! Glamour boy Assange requires hard-nosed realists that are able to turn the tables on ruling criminal elites with means not usually spoken about in good company, Ms Robinson -- which legal fairy tale are we reading today?
Taking on criminal States is something they don’t teach you in law school, do they Ms Robinson, better you learn that type of thing in military academies, associated agencies or as a victim of torture and violent State crime? Sure-fire methods and formulas exist that topple State governments and regimes, Ms Robinson but neither you, your previous employers, nor Mr Assange seem to have an iota of knowledge in that regard.
Indeed, the West Papuan people, like all humanity deserve better but the largest gold mine in the world owned by US interests and other corporations plundering West Papua may have something to ’say’ about granting ‘Liberty, Freedom and Democracy’ to native cultures when zillions of dollars in resources are at stake, geesh, academic fuckin’ lawyers!
Where is the brave leader of the West Papuan independence movement today, Ms Robinson? Dead of course, assassinated by agents of the corporations and other vested interests, but we’ll get ‘em with a point of ‘law,’ won’t we? On second thoughts I better have a drink before I explode!
The sad reality is Assange is fucked, pure and simple, especially if he persists on his present naïve course. Do you seriously believe that the current Australian government would assist Assange in opposition to their Washington overlords, did you not hear that nauseating speech delivered by Juliar Gillard to a joint sitting of Congress? Any Aussie with a modicum of self-respect listened to that nauseating speech in total disgust; I was in a public bar when excerpts of her speech appeared on the TV and the reaction, I am happy to say, was overwhelmingly negative! Do you REALLY expect that slag, Gillard, to defend or assist Assange when she is on record for (unjustly) labelling our white-haired anti-hero, a “criminal?” Come to think of it, you had better pop the cork on that bottle of red, now!
The past decade has seen the civilian killing USA and its NATO allies embark on the most brazen CRIMINAL military interventions since the Nazi interventions of the Second World War, but prior to pursuing their nefarious plans the USA also had its Reichstag (9/11) fire and corrupted the local and international (ICC) judiciary to ensure that criminal forces would not be held accountable for future crimes and that everything they did was ‘legal!’
The law is not an ass, Ms Robinson, it’s a Turd. Dream on while others better able, wage an EFFECTIVE war against the evil powers and I trust you delivered my personal message to Julian -- none of this is “personal,” not even this piece, but we have a REAL fight on our hands and we MUST maintain discipline, adhere to certain codes/principles and remain focused at ALL times.
I wish you well for the future, however, a little more hard reality and less red wine, perhaps? "I can't believe the injustices... etc," I assure you, Ms Robinson, you will learn to believe and then hopefully learn to fight where it hurts the opponent, which is NOT in courts the criminally corrupt State controls!
Apparently Murdoch's 'pay-to-read' links are now in force; for readers' convenience Adam Creighton's story follows:
AS we approached the group of Oxford graduates milling outside the ersatz grandeur of St Paul's college dining hall, the chatter subsided a little.
All eyes were on my companion, Jennifer Robinson. She always had a habit of making an impact. But from our days at Balliol College I never expected her to attain international legal stardom, at least not so quickly.
Robinson, 31, became a legal adviser to Julian Assange in October 2010, a month before he burst into global consciousness. The "world's first stateless media organisation", as Robinson terms WikiLeaks, had released thousands of classified American diplomatic cables into the public domain, embarrassing and infuriating the US government.
"Julian Assange should be feted as Australia's most decorated contributor to journalism," Robinson says, "yet he is vilified for uncovering gross abuses of state power." My friend has traipsed the globe advocating for Assange's rights both at law and in principle, in the process becoming one of the most recognisable faces of WikiLeaks.
This week leaked emails from a US private intelligence firm suggested Assange might soon face further charges in the US, possibly under the Espionage Act. "We have long been concerned about the risk of US extradition," Robinson says. "I expect they are waiting for the outcome of the Swedish extradition."
Assange has been stuck in Britain fighting extradition to Sweden for alleged sexual assault, which the Supreme Court is due to resolve any day now.
Robinson is passionate about human rights, free speech and journalistic freedom, as well as the need for greater transparency in government.
Now full-time with the Bertha Foundation, a South African NGO that sponsors individuals uniquely placed to prompt social and economic change, Robinson has returned to Sydney for a few months to take up an adjunct lectureship in public interest law at the University of Sydney.
At the annual Oxford alumni dinner in Sydney this month we swapped some memories from our time at the university and after the main course the event organiser convinced her to make an impromptu speech.
I've always found remarkable Robinson's ability to switch from an effervescent companion on the social circuit to hardnosed interlocutor.
"May you be involved in a lawsuit in which you are right," she said, opening her speech with the old legal proverb.
Given what is ahead it was apt. Robinson fears Assange will be detained for years as a result of US charges, whatever happens with the Swedish case.
"I'm confident a challenge under the first amendment of the US constitution will ultimately see Assange walk free, but we need only look to the treatment of Bradley Manning to know what Julian will suffer in the meantime," she says.
Certainly the plight of Manning, the hapless American soldier on trial, provides a foreboding example. Arrested in May 2010 for allegedly disclosing information to WikiLeaks, he is still incarcerated.
In the week before Christmas Robinson was in Maryland observing the criminal proceedings.
"I can't believe the media's relative lack of interest in the Manning trial," she says. "Here is a man who's been locked up for about 600 days in solitary confinement and conditions amounting to torture, and he's still waiting to be put on trial."
For Robinson , the pursuit of Assange, an Australian citizen, reflects poorly on the federal government too. "Quite aside from wrongfully accusing Assange of illegal conduct, the Australian government's response to WikiLeaks has been incredibly disappointing; what is the point of the US alliance if we can't find out what they are planning to do with one of our own citizens?"
Until Robinson became embroiled in WikiLeaks she was known among her peers for her advocacy for West Papuans. A visit to Indonesia in 2002 while a student at the Australian National University entrenched her interest in human rights.
"I couldn't believe the injustices and violence suffered by the West Papuans under Indonesian rule, only 300km north of our shores, and no one in Australia seems to know what happens there," she says.
"West Papuans have as much right to self-determination as the East Timorese."
"She tempers her idealism with a healthy does of pragmatism," longtime Oxford friend Albert Alla says. At Oxford, Robinson fostered a mix of admiration and envy. "She's is a hard pill to swallow for potential competitors, casting a shadow on most of them," Alla adds.
Robinson 's achievements are bolstered by an impressive resume. But her academic achievements -- university medallist at ANU in law, and a Master of Philosophy in law from Balliol College on a Rhodes Scholarship -- are more interesting in light of her background.
She grew up in Berry on the NSW south coast and attended Bomaderry High School. "From memory about two out of 50 Rhodes scholars at Oxford came from non-selective state schools," she recalls.
"I started a DPhil at Oxford but I'm more of a doer and wanted to get my hands dirty in real cutting-edge legal work."
Part-time work for Geoffrey Robertson throughout her Oxford studies led in 2008 to full-time work at a boutique law firm defending journalists and media organisations -- and also to an introduction to Assange. She became Robertson's instructing solicitor, and worked for clients such as Bloomberg and The New York Times. She intervened on behalf of media defence organisations in the Max Mosley case before the European Court of Human Rights.
"I am patriotically Australian, proud of our country and want to contribute to defending the progressive and reformist political history that has made our country so great," Robinson says.
Like many expatriates, Robinson is torn about whether to return permanently or stay abroad. A glint in her eye suggested to me one vocation would bring her back for sure. When pressed she won't rule out an Australian political career.
© 2012 News Limited