Western “democracies” are quietly arresting dissidents

Last updated on 18 Oct to include Asa Winstanley

More journalists arrested in the west

Shocked to find out the truth behind our veneer of “freedom” and “democracy”, I started keeping a list of influential journalists, professors, social justice activists and free speech defenders arrested in western “democracies” since the last Russo-Ukrainian war began in 2022. I will keep updating this regularly. Creation date of this article was Sept 3, 2024, so just check the additions to the list below since then. See how quickly this all turned sideways since august 2024 (after Keir Starmer took over)!

Most on this list are charged under some vague recent sweeping anti-terrorism acts, effectively gagging the people in question and shutting them up while held under surveillance without further notice.

Note that mainstream media mostly do not, or are not allowed (by their respective govts) to report on these arrests. Many western governments have installed laws enforcing censorship in secret, making it extremely hard for the public to know the truth. One would have to do independent research as sources reporting on the true matter of events exist, but are made hard to find or deranked by algorithms of the co-opted media platforms (such as Google, Twitter and Facebook, all US owned and thus under control by the NSA).

Do you think you have intellectual freedom?

Some background regarding current censorship in the west

You see, most large influential news networks in the world are now operating under the so called “Trusted News Initiative”, effectively controlling the (non)dissemination of influential information. In effect they are censoring or framing information to fit the purposes as laid out by overarching (inter)national security agencies which were injected into their process. The COVID pandemic was used as the perfect moment to install this machinery and push forward sweeping regulations making most of this unseen to the public.
The original “five eyes” (the first 5 national security agencies collaborating on almost everything) have now grown to include even more countries dependent on the protectorate, collaborating in secret to help keep hegemonic control of the world (mostly by demonizing the “others”, to gain support for far reaching measures such as sanctions, with side effects such as fueling far-right views and racism all over the world), and have firmly taken control of western media.
(Where is the proof you may ask? Obviously not to be found in mainstream media anymore.)
You will have to start slow thinking in order not to succumb to such tricks, and keep looking beyond the simplistic narratives of the propaganda machines.

To help those interested I have created an independent news app that helps with finding out what is going on in the world for real ;)

Important notes:
This list excludes the hundreds of people local to crisis areas / war zones that were killed or arrested based on their ethnicity, and are rarely reported on. In this list I focus on famous people that are inhabitants of countries in the west, as their arrests are likely to receive more attention (and thus hopefully more condemnation) from viewers.

Those unchecked at the end are the names of people the hegemonic powers would like to see silenced, and could be next. Coordinated smear campaigns are already rampant against them, demonizing them and attacking their persons as psychologically unstable (a very popular attack nowadays). The combination of such cheap tactics are likely to trick the lazy brains of the public into the “where there is smoke there must be fire” stance on the matter, setting them up for future arrests or degradation of powers.

The current list

(Please tell me if I left out anybody, so I can update it ;)

– [x] Kit Klarenberg (UK, May 17, 2024): GrayZone reporter. Interrogated over “political views” after the GrayZone was revealing the true motives behind the Russia-Ukraine war.
– [x] Scott Ritter (USA, August 7, 2024): in depth reporting and analysis on the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine war, showing the true disasters unfolding, with strong emphasis on the military perspective.
– [x] Richard Medhurst (UK, August 15, 2024): in depth reporting and analysis on the Middle East, and vocal critic of the remaining apartheid regime proclaiming to be a democracy (Israel).
– [x] Mary Kostakidis (Australia, August 2024): Australian journalist and political commentator informing the public about sexual assault fabrications created by Israeli propagandists. Accused by Israeli govt linked agency of “supporting ethnic cleansing of Jews” after two retweets.
– [x] Danny Shaw (USA, August 28, 2024): Professor and activist speaking out against social injustice and the current unfolding catastrophe in the Middle East. In May 2024, before this arrest, he was arrested, doxxed and subsequently fired from his job at the College of Criminal Justice in New York. For protesting against the genocide in Gaza
– [x] Sarah Wilkinson (UK, August 28, 2024): activist fighting for human rights and social justice, highlighting the hypocrisy in the west around the unfolding genocide in the Middle East.
– [x] Richard Barnard (UK, August 29, 2024): Founder of Palestine Action, leading activists to fight against Israel’s genocide and for the rights of Palestinians to exist. 
– [x] Pavel Durov (France, August 31, 2024): Owner of free speech platform Telegram. (He was effectively arrested because he guarantees safety and privacy and thus won’t build a backdoor for governments/hackers for surveillance, unlike all US based platforms that have to comply to such arrangements by NSA decree)
– [x] Michael Lacey (USA, 4 sept 2024): Owner of Backpage, a Craigslist alternative. He was arrested for “facilitating prostitution” because his platform was used to place legitimate ads for meetings between individuals that subsequently engaged in illegal acts !?
– [x] Steven Thrasher (USA, 5 sept 2024): Assistant professor of journalism, author and journalist mainly focused on LGBTQ+ issues, but moved focus on the genocide in Gaza. Suspended for standing up for Palestinian rights.
– [x] Asa Winstanley (UK, 17 Oct 2024): Associate editor of the Electronic Intifada, a group of journalists chronicling the Palestine people and their legitimate resistance to military oppression by an invading force, which is Israel.
 

Who’s next?

Many people stand up to counter the propaganda of the neocon’s instigated/funded wars and atrocities against mankind all over the globe. The wave of political arrests is increasing, and it is very likely that people on this “next” list are targeted some time soon. They are likely to first get harassed on many levels and targeted with smear campaigns (trolled) before actually being arrested, as that never looks good from a PR perspective.

– [ ] Col. Douglas MacGregor (USA, ?): Military analyst and commentator discussing the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Offers a realistic view of the balance of powers in the current multi-polar world, which is not what the hegemony tries to portray. His network in the military and political arena make it harder for the establishment to neutralize him in public. 
– [ ] Chris Pavlovski (Canada, ?): Owner of free speech platform Rumble. France also threatened his platform as well so after Pavel Durov’s arrest he left Europe to escape potential indictment/arrest.
– [ ] Elon Musk (USA, ?): Owner of free speech platform X. Likely to keep his freedom as he is the owner of the most important low-orbit satellite array in the world, which is currently very much needed and used by the western military alliance.