09/20/23 09/20/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a canadian citizen on canadian soil is an acceptable violation of our sovereignty. it is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves. amy: tension is escalating

between canada and india after canadian prime minister justin trudeau accused agents of the indian government of assassinating a prominent canadian sikh leader outside a temple in british columbia in june. we will get the latest. then to the case of wikileaks founder julian assange as calls grow for the biden administration to halts its prosecution of the imprisoned journalist. we will speak to gustavo petro, the president of colombia. he called on the u.s. to free assange. >> a message of democracy, lifting of he could pardon the past to tell the world a journalist doing the job as a journalist should not be kept prisoner, even if it has a negative impact on the interest of the u.s. power. amy: and we will speak to an australian senator who has just

flown into washington, d.c., as part of a delegation to lobby the united states to abandon its plan to extradite julian assange from britain. then to indigenous leader winona laduke. a judge in minnesota has thrown out criminal charges against her and two other water defenders who were arrested for protesting at the construction site of enbridge's line 3 pipeline. >> it has been heartbreaking for us to undergo this trauma of all of these years of facing this corporation, and have the judge say to criminalize as further would be a crime, that was just all the kind of cry. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

authorities in nagorno-karabakh say they have accepted a russian-proposed ceasefire, one day after azerbaijan launched a military operation in the contested territory. peace talks between azerbaijan and armenia are scheduled to start thursday. yesterday's attack reportedly killed closed to 100 people and injured hundreds. tensions have been growing in nagorno-karabakh in recent months as azerbaijani forces sealed off its only road linking it to armenia, leading to major food, fuel, and medical shortages, as well as accusations of genocide. nagorno-karabakh is overwhelmingly populated by ethnic armenians but is recognized as azerbaijani territory as part of a russia-brokered ceasefire following the 2020 war. protesters gathered in armenia's capital yerevan tuesday. >> can find any solution to this problem, solution that can satisfy both sides and we can

live peacefully. that is my opinion. i know it is difficult. it cannot be a decision which will satisfy both sides, but we should come to that. otherwise, it will continue and hundreds, thousands of innocent people will die. amy: during the protest, police used stun grenades to disperse crowds trying to enter a government building. israeli forces killed 19-year-old palestinian durgham al-akhras during a raid near jericho in the occupied west bank earlier today. his grieving father decried his killing. >> is a child. he has nothing to do with all of this. you is an unarmed person, sibling. whoever walks the streets should be shot just because he is one of our people? amy: one day earlier on tuesday, israeli soldiers killed another four palestinians. in the occupied west bank, a

raid in the jenin refugee camp claimed three lives, with 20 others injured. separately in the gaza strip, 25-year-old yousef salem radwan was shot dead by israeli soldiers. on sunday, israel said it is keeping the beit hanoun crossing closed as it violently cracks down on palestinian protests. beit hanoun is the only operational crossing for gazans to enter israel, including some 18,000 palestinians who work in israel. this comes as president biden is meeting israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu today on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly in new york. the biden administration has criticized the gutting of the judiciary by netanyahu's far-right coalition government and its plans to expand illegal settlements, though it has not pulled back its $3.8 billion in annual military funding. the u.s. is also pushing a deal to fully normalize relations between israel and saudi arabia. "the new york times" reports the biden administration is in talks with saudi arabia over a mutual defense treaty that would resemble military pacts the u.s. has with japan and south korea.

saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman is reportedly also seeking u.s. help to develop a civilian nuclear program. while campaigning for president, biden vowed to make mbs a pariah over the assassination of "washington post" columnist jamal khashoggi and human rights issues. in related news, houthi negotiators and saudi officials wrapped up five days of talks in riyadh on a possible path to ending the war in yemen. the saudi-led, u.s.-backed conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people since 2015, with 80% of yemen's population relying on humanitarian aid. here in new york, world leaders continued to address the u.n. general assembly. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy warned russia's invasion poses a threat to all nations. >> it is clear russia's attempt to weaponize the food shortage on the global market in exchange

for recognitions for some if not all, of the captured territories . russia is launching the food prices as weapons. the impact stems from the atlantic asia to -- africa to asia. amy: president biden expressed ongoing support for ukraine and condemned russia's naked aggression. in his speech, biden also called for global climate action, global ai regulations, managing competition with china, and urged the u.n. to back a security support mission to haiti where gang violence has been surging. one day after a high-profile iran-u.s. prisoner swap, iranian president ebrahim raisi told the u.n. general assembly, the u.s. "project to 'americanize' the world has failed" as he hailed a new world order. he also called on the u.s. to revive the iran nuclear deal it

-- president trump pulled the u.s. out of. >> america should demonstrate its willingness to fulfill its commitments and conclude the past. amy: outside the u.n. headquarters, protesters gathered to condemn iran's government. tuesday marked one year since the start of iran's nationwide uprising following the death of mahsa amini. cuban president miguel diaz-canel called for major reforms to international economic institutions and national debts that have overwhelmingly harmed countries in the global south. brazilian president luiz inácio lula da silva also addressed the u.n. >> we will continue to criticize any attempt to divide the world into zones of influence to reissue the cold war. the u.n. security council is losing its credibility. this stems in particular from the acts of its permanent

members who wage unauthorized wars in pursuit of territorial expansion or government change. amy: lula's comments echoed calls for a change to the national order this weakens g77 summit as low and middle income countries met in havana, cuba. among those addressing the g77 was honduran president xiomara castro. >> we are not pieces in a board that promotes dependency. our nations must not keep on suffering the mass privatization of their territories. amy: and washington, d.c., house republicans remain mired in turmoil. house speaker kevin mccarthy delayed a key procedural vote tuesday on a 30-day stopgap spending bill after opposition from members of the freedom caucus. hours later, that hardline freedom caucus blocked debate on a pentagon spending bill in another blow to mccarthy.

meanwhile, house democrats and some less extreme republicans could work together to garner enough support for a spending bill that would bypass mccarthy and the far-right's demand for massive spending cuts. in pennsylvania, democratic governor josh shapiro announced tuesday pennsylvania will now automatically register eligible voters when they obtain or renew driver licenses or id cards. >> we will save taxpayers time and 90, reduce the number of costly paper registrations, and streamlined voter registration for pennsylvanians. look, this is common sense. all of the information you need to register to vote is provided at the dmv. amy: pennsylvania joins 23 mostly democratic states and washington, d.c., in having some form of automatic voter registration. meanwhile, democrat lindsay powell easily won a special election tuesday in pittsburgh restoring the democrats'

one-seat majority in the house. she is the first black woman to represent the predominantly white 21st district in allegheny county. west point is being sued over the military academy's race-based admissions policies. the lawsuit is spearheaded by the same anti-affirmative action group that sued harvard and the university of north carolina at chapel hill. the case was one before the u.s. supreme court that gutted race-conscious admissions policies at colleges and universities nationwide. the ruling excluded military academies. and at least 20 indigenous leaders and climate activists were arrested tuesday as actions demanding an end to fossil fuels continue during new york's climate week. dozens of protesters swarmed the bank of america tower in manhattan yesterday, blocking entrances as they chanted, "we need clean air, not another billionaire." the bank is one of the largest funders of oil, gas, and coal across the globe, as well as a

leading financial backer of the contested mountain valley pipeline. this is environmental activist john beard of the port arthur community action network. >> we refuse to be sacrificed any further under big oil, big gas, big finance, and be away --boa. refused to allow them to put profits over people and determine the lives of future people in the south without them serving in a benefit from them and destroying the very planet upon which we all depend. amy: that is john beard of the port arthur community action network in texas. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york with democracy now! co-host juan gonzález in chicago. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world.

amy: tension is escalating between canada and india after canadian prime minister justin trudeau publicly accused agents of the indian government of assassinating a prominent canadian sikh leader outside a sikh temple in the city of surrey in british columbia in june. hardeep singh nijjar, who was a canadian citizen, was shot dead by two masked gunmen who escaped in a waiting car. in an address to the canadian parliament on monday, trudeau accused india of orchestrating the assassination. >> any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a canadian citizen on canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. it is contrary to the phenomenal rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves. amy: hardeep singh nijjar was a prominent leader in the

khalistan movement, a sikh separatist movement which advocates for the formation of an independent sikh homeland in the northwest state of punjab. india's government, which is led by the hardline hindu nationalist narendra modi, had designated nijjar as a terrorist claiming he was the leader of a militant group. while the indian government has denied involvement in his murder, india has long been accused of targeting sikh leaders at home and abroad. hardeep singh nijjar's son balraj nijjar spoke on tuesday. >> it was just a matter of time. will we heard the news yesterday, it was a sense of relief. it is finally coming to the public eye. amy: the assassination was also condemned by mukhbir singh of the world sikh organization of canada. >> the younger generation that grew up in canada, they grew up hearing stories about the persecution, the fear of speaking out a little too much and you might get on a list or

be targeted. so to see that happening right now in 2023 in canada, it is shocking. i hope the larger community sees that and understands how truly shocking this is to see a canadian attacked on canadian soil by a foreign country. i think we can't understate how shocking that news is. amy: on monday, canada expelled india's top intelligence official in canada. in response, india expelled a senior canadian diplomat. we are joined now by arjun singh sethi. he is a human rights lawyer and adjunct professor at georgetown law. he is a member of the sikh community. we welcome you to democracy now! it is great to have you with us under very terrible circumstances. can you explain what happened in june, the assassination of arjun singh sethi and then how this all became public with up prime

minister of canada denouncing india and apparently having these meetings with narendra modi and president biden at the g20 summit in india? >> thank you so much for having me on the show. in june, hardeep singh nijjar was leaving a sikh house of worship when he was violently gunned down under very mysterious, suspicious circumstances. some in the canadian sikh community had long suspected the indian government was responsible. fast forward several months, really to this week, and we hear from prime minister justin trudeau from the floor the canadian parliament alleging that the indian government orchestrated the assassination of a canadian sikh citizen in

cold blood on account of protected political speech. sikhs across canada, the united states, and the world who are engaged in protected speech are concerned. and so are others. we see this administration, the modi regime, target sikhs, christians, muslims. this is a warning to anyone engaged in activism come engaged in speech, that you could be next. juan: modi the government has claimed for years that nijjar was a terrorist. could you explain the asus by the modi government and what his activism was about? >> mr. nijjar came to canada in the 90's. he later became a canadian citizen. as you know, that is a vetted process.

clearly, the canadian government determined he was not a threat. in 2020 when the indian government labeled him a terrorist, they did so under that unlawful activities prevention act, which human rights bodies have routinely called draconian, regressive, and other things because it allows the indian government to label someone a terrorist without due process and without trial. so we have seen the indian government use that law to imprison adjust with priest -- jesuit priest, a kashmiri journalist. it is this same while the indian government used to target mr. nijjar. part of the outcome of this investigation process is this law should be denounced and

abandoned by the indian government. again, human rights bodies have called for that for a long time. juan: could you talk about some of the persecution that has been occurring under the modi government against minorities within india, especially the sikh? >> sure. let's go back, as the chief minister in 2002, modi authorized and enabled the program in which thousands of muslims died. it was on account of that he was banned from entering the united states for more than 10 years. so he was treated as a pariah because of his role in the 2002 program. as prime minister, we have seen countless human rights violations. we saw the indian government rollback the autonomy of cashmere and commit human rights

atrocities there. we have seen india lead the world and internet blackouts. we've seen that modi administration push forward the citizenship amendment act, the national registry of citizens -- which are mechanisms really to just strip muslims and others of citizenship. hate violence in india today, specifically targeting muslims and daluits, is so commonplace that sometimes it is organize online and the video is uploaded for the world to see. just recently, in a terrible mistake, modi was celebrated with a steak dinner and the united states congress welcomed him with a joint address. meanwhile, hundreds of churches were burning in -- and we did not hear anything from prime minister modi. amy: arjun singh sethi, if you

can talk about threats to the sikh community worldwide. it is sort of on a idol of russians who have been poisoned in different countries outside of russia or operation condor decades ago outside of chile but organized by the chilean government. can you talk about what sikhs face? and is this assassination unusual? >> so let me sort of go back for a second and provide a deeper context. that context really goes back to the 1980's. in the wake of the assassination of gandhi, thousands of sikhs were murdered in delhi and across india. those sikhs and those families are still awaiting justice decades later. the years that followed, thousands of sikhs were murdered across punjab and forcibly

disappeared by the indian government. there's a wonderful human rights organization that documents this work called ensaaf in the united states and i encourage everyone to check it out. sikhs who have engaged in activism in india have long been targeted. we have also seen that sikhs in the diaspora who engage in activism face a variety of consequences. in some cases, sikhs are prohibited from entering india. in some cases, the indian government refuses to grant them visas. in some cases, the social media feeds are block on x and other platforms. we have long suspected that the indian government has been behind targeted assassinations in other countries as well. what makes this story particularly unique, that it is

the canadian government. and it shows just how emboldened the modi administration is. and this is what happens when the world decides to embrace an authoritarian leader like narendra modi. narendra modi should be uttered in the same breath as putin, as mohammed bin salman. but when you give him a pass, when you empower and embolden him, he brings tears to a neighborhood near you. and that is what we are seeing in canada today. amy: on tuesday, world sikh organization of canada president mukhbir singh and the national council of canadian muslims ceo stephen brown held a press conference at the house of commons in ottawa, canada. this is brown speaking about the threats the rss hindu nationalist movement poses to both the muslim and sikh communities. >> members of the muslim community and the sikh community and many other communities have been complaining for years that

they have been targeted by harassments and threat by individuals and associations with rss. for years, we've been talking about this topic to the canadian government and nothing has been done. which is why we are asking right now for the canadian government to ban the rss from canada and expel its agents from the country. amy: tell me what you see happening now in canada with us all becoming so public -- of course, was the assassination in june, but with the throwing out of the top indian intelligence official and then india retaliating drawing out a canadian official -- throwing out a canadian official, where you see this happening now. also extremely inconvenient for president biden who is trying to improve relations with narendra modi at this point as he sets up new alliances. >> i live in the united states. sikhs represent i believe i must to percent of the canadian population.

the canadian government over the years has welcomed sikhs who have been persecuted in india. i would absolutely defer to them. having said that, you are seeing sikhs protest, speak outcome organize because a sikh activist who ran a plumbing business, who was a pillar of sikh society in vancouver, was murdered in cold blood. it is expected they are to be fearful. they want answers. the indian government i believe last night somewhere early dismissed -- summarily dismissed the claims and prime minister trudeau -- and ask again for the modi administration to cooperate. and the biden administration has had so as well. so next steps include bringing the individuals who executed mr. nijjar to account, a

comprehensive investigation that documents who approved this targeted assassination, and a deeper conversation really about the fact that india is not the world's largest democracy. india is the world's largest authoritarian regime. juan: in terms of the position of the canadian prime minister, trudeau has not exactly been a profile encourage in terms of differing with the united states when it comes to policy around the world. do you expect this strong stand of trudeau is going to have an impact on the united states as well? >> i hope so. as i already mentioned, the biden administration has somehow taken the approach that it is sufficient to have private conversations with the modi regime. and that somehow that will nudge

the modi regime to be more respectful of human rights. but in fact, it is the opposite. only role the red carper out for prime minister modi at the same time he is perpetrating human rights atrocities, it emboldens him further. i do hope the biden administration pays close attention. i do hope the biden administration realizes the time for private engagement is over. the world needs to come together and ask difficult questions of the modi regime. questions that really should have been posed a long time ago. again, narendra modi showed the world who he was a long time ago. it is time we listen. amy: arjun singh sethi, thank you for being with us, human rights lawyer and adjunct professor at georgetown law. member of the sikh community,

speaking to us from nashville, tennessee. next up, the growing calls for the biden administration to drop charges against the imprisoned publisher julian assange. we will hear from the brazilian president lula and play a clip of our exclusive interview with the colombian president gustavo petro and we will talk to an australian senator who has just blown into washington, d.c., as part of a delegation to lobby the u.s. to abandon its plan to extradite julian assange from britain. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. the united nations general assembly opened tuesday in new york. brazilian president luiz inácio lula da silva was the first world leader to speak. he called for urgent action to address the climate crisis and to combat growing inequality. he also voiced support for julian assange, the imprisoned founder of wikileaks. >> preserving press freedom is

essential. our journals like julian assange -- amy: president lula's comments come as pressure is intensifying on the biden administration to halt its prosecution of assange. a delegation of six australian lawmakers have just arrived in washington, d.c., to urge the u.s. to drop its case against assange who is an australian citizen. assange faces espionage and hacking charges that could see him sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for publishing classified u.s. military and diplomatic cables, including evidence of war crimes. assange has been held in london's infamous belmarsh prison since 2019 awaiting possible extradition to the u.s. before that, he spent seven years living in the cramped ecuadorian embassy in london where he had political asylum. in a moment, we will be joined by a senator from australia who has just flown into washington. but first, i want to turn to colombian president gustavo petro. i spoke to him on tuesday here

in new york. president lula also set at the u.n. assembly about julian assange preserving precedent -- freedom is essential, journalist like julian assange to not be punished for informing society in a transparent and legitimate way. president petro, do you think julian assange -- that the united states should drop charges against julian assange so he can be free? >> i call him julian assange. he is a journalist, period. what he did was the work of a journalist, period. and he is been in prison for a long time because of his work as a journalist. it is the greatest mockery of the freedom of the press and it

has been brought to bear by the country that has built a concept, it was in the american revolution what they called the founding fathers here. they are the ones who said there must be press independent of power -- of the powers that be. at that time, that was understood to be political power. today, i would also talk about the economic powers because the press has succumbed to economic power interests. but if we take this foundational concept of the united states, what they're doing with assange is contradicting it, denying their own foundational principle, the very government the is doing this. so it is a contradiction in terms. it is a contradiction in itself as a society. julian should be free and we have called for that. lula has made it into a banner.

ecuador, with progressive president, was safeguarding him most of his lawyers visited sometimes desperate. if biden -- biden has several messages to put out. i couldn't replace him because i do not know your society and debt and i know he is confronting very dark, backward looking forces that to back a long time in society. but biden should take the leap of reforming the international financial system, the imf, to reduce the public debts of all country and free up a bunch of spaced for a marshall plan for life. he has that ability with europe. biden could become the green leader, the environmental leader of the world.

look at all of the young people today who would like to have an opportunity to live in coming decades and biden could launch the message of democracy. lifting up the process come he could pardon him, what have you, the path to tell the world a journalist doing their job as a journalist should not be kept prisoner even if it has a negative interest -- negative impact on interest of u.s. power. it is the foundational aspect of that power. well, the principle is the press must operate independent of power. that would be sending a message to the world. i don't know how much it would be a message to his own society, but i believe societies have has democratic defenses that would make it possible to recognize the democratic leader. amy: that was colombian president gustavo petro. we will air the whole exclusive interview on thursday.

colombian president petro and brazilian president lula's remarks supporting julian assange comes as a delegation of six australian lawmakers have arrived in washington to urge the biden administration to halt its prosecution of the wikileaks founder, who is an australian citizen. more than 60 members of australia's parliament from across the political spectrum recently wrote an open letter to the biden administration. it appeared as a full-page ad in "the washington post." the lawmakers wrote -- "we are resolutely of the view that the prosecution and incarceration of the australian citizen julian assange must end." the letter goes on to state -- "the prolonged pursuit of mr. assange wears away at the substantial foundation of regard and respect that australians have for the justice system of the united states of america." julian assange has also received support from the highest levels of the australian government. this is australia's foreign minister penny wong speaking in july. >> we have made clear of you

that mr. assange's case has dragged on for too long and our desire that it be brought to conclusion. we have said that publicly and you would anticipate that reflects also the position we articulate in private. amy: we are joined now by australian senator peter whish-wilson. he is member of the australian greens party representing tasmania. he co-founded the bring julian assange home parliamentary group nearly five years ago. he just flew into washington, d.c., last night. senator, welcome to democracy now! if you can explain what you plan to do in washington dc, and lay out what you see as julian assange's case. >> thank you, amy. we have a number of meetings with u.s. lawmakers, both in the congress and in the senate. we will also be meeting with the department of justice, the state department, with the australian

consulate and ambassador, and a number of other stakeholders, doing media like i am now. the primary aim for our delegation, and it is cross party, is to let americans know, particularly those in power, that australians feel very strongly about this issue. we feel like julian assange has suffered enough. he has been incarcerated for nearly a decade. he was simply publishing the tree. he is an australian citizen. he won the highest award for journalism in australia. article have been published around the wikileaks disclosures. we feel is extradition process that is underway is a very dangerous global precedent for press freedoms.

it is extraterritorial overreach by the u.s. government and not something you would expect from the beacon of global democracy. with all respect to your listeners, it is something you might expect from a totalitarian regime. the australian recent polls show nine out of 10 australians would like to see julian assange freed. they would like to see him home for christmas, to sit down with his lovely wife and two children , his brother and father like all of us come have christmas lunch with this family. we would like to make it. clear to u.s. lawmakers the australian parliament who we represent across political parties also feel very strongly that if the extradition proceedings continue and especially if he is extradited to the u.s., increasingly, our relationship will be seen through this prism.

one of frustration. i think it is fair to say australia is the closest of friends and the closest of allies with the u.s. close friends and allies should have mutual respect. but we don't feel the representation our government has made so far to the biden administration have been listened to. we certainly have seen a disappointing response from secretary blinken when he was in australia recently. we felt like we had to jump on a plane and do 16 hours of travel to be here in washington me et face-to-face and say enough is enough, julian needs to be freed. juan: senator, when he started this campaign five years ago the parliament, you are a lone voice. they're only two of you. now it is a quarter of the australian parliament. can you talk about the evolution

of the leadership's view and public's view about julian's case? >> thank you. that is a good question. i met with julian's father john shipton nearly five years ago. i think it is fair to say over the last decade, there's been a very concerted character assassination on mr. assange. i think there's a very deliberate strategy here to make him unpopular. because ultimately, an extradition proceeding, especially on espionage charges, is a political charge. we see julian assange as a political prisoner. of course, that would require political conclusion have the proceedings dropped. if he was unpopular and people did not like him, then no one

would pay any attention and the u.s. government would be apt to get away with this. five years ago, it is fair to say julian was unpopular in australia, too. but as we have campaign to get the facts out around this particular details of the extradition which led to disclosures around the iraq war, any attempt for julian to be sent to sweden or anything to do with the cable gate disclosures with the u.s. election, we have wanted to get the facts in front of people that julian is an australian journalist. a foreign journalist -- the first time the u.s. government has tried to extradite a foreign journalist for activities on foreign soil. it has never happened before.

of course, if democracy like the u.s. can do this, can bring a journalist and put them in jail for 175 years -- we don't believe you will get a fair trial in the u.s. -- what can a precedent is that set for other nations if a government doesn't like what you have published and seeks to put you in jail just silence you and to make a very -- let's be clear about this, to make an example of you. i think the principles are very simple one. as we put these facts in front of people, as we have had discussions across elementary lines, -- parliamentary lines, as we have talked to australian media, people get it. to understand when you do that. it is taken some time to build this momentum. i think the documentary about julian's father john shipton and his brother and his family, very

personalized film about the campaign to get julian free has helped humanize julian. he's had a very significant hatchet job done on -- he has been deeply defined on the number of levels, and i don't believe there is any basis of truth on that. it is been about changing the frame to actually look at what is the specific issue, the extradition come and what are the global consequences if he is extradited to the u.s. juan: next month, your prime minister is planning an official state visit to the united states and will meet with president biden. how could assange's case but visually influence the discussions in that visit? >> i think this important that our prime minister does raise this again. u.s. lawmakers, especially with the president. he has raised this privately and

it was raised at a press conference in australia with your secretary of state. it is one of the reasons we are here. we want to make sure our delegation meets with u.s. lawmakers as we try to raise awareness of this issue. it is an important issue for them to discuss publicly. as i said earlier, this is becoming a big issue in australia. we are the closest of friends and friends should be able to disagree. we see, especially in recent months since the government has become increasingly closer to the u.s., especially the security ties, the australian government is looking at appropriating half a trillion dollars to buy nuclear submarines from the u.s., for example. as we have been come closer to

the u.s., we feel there should be some quit pro quote here. we feel so strongly about this issue of assange's release that that should be the minimum we get back from the biden. government. amy: what has the prime minister expressed so far to biden, either publicly or privately? is he demanding his freedom or him after he was extradited to the united states to be released to australia? >> he said clearly similar to what you had with senator wong, he said -- he feels enough is enough and it should come to an end. i think that is a very clear message. it is a different message to the last government we had in australia, did not say anything about julian assange. they did not say anything

negative about his extradition, but never made any public statement. we have seen a seachange, seismic shift in our leadership commenting on this issue, which we welcome. but we would like to see this backed up by action. words are cheap. we would like to actually see the prime minister lay out to the president of the united states and other power structures within the u.s. that there will be consequences if julian assange is extradited. we feel that is very important. to be clear, to have a very frank discussion. amy: peter whish-wilson, thank you for being with us, has been an australian greens senator for tasmania in the australian federal parliament since 2012. he cofounded the bring julian assange home parliamentary group nearly five years ago. next up, we speak with indigenous leader winona laduke. a judge has thrown out criminal charges against her and two other water defenders arrested

for protesting at the construction site of enbridge line 3 pipeline. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break] amy: that was water protectors in 2021 singing "down to the river to pray in minnesota. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan

gonzalez. here in new york city, protests continued tuesday during climate week. in one action, indigenous activists with honor the earth painted a giant mural in times square with the message "no green colonialism. land back now!" indigenous activists were also at the front of sunday's march as some 75,000 people to the united nations calling on president biden to end fossil fuels. this comes as a minnesota judge has dismissed criminal charges against three indigenous water protectors who were arrested after protesting at the construction site of enbridge's line 3 tar sands oil pipeline in january 2021. the three women -- winona laduke, tania aubid, dawn goodwin -- were arrested after police saw video shared on social media of them at a rally for rivers ceremony on the banks of the mississippi river, on treaty-ceded anishinaabe land as they sang, danced, and prayed near construction crews.

>> we are water protectors. we are going to continue dancing. amy: well, in a landmark opinion delivered last thursday, aitkin county senior judge leslie metzen wrote that as respected members of anishinaabe tribes, laduke, aubid, and goodwin were expressing "their heartfelt belief that the waters of minnesota need to be protected from damage that could result from the pipeline." judge metzen concluded -- "in the interests of justice the charges against these three individuals who were exercising their rights to free speech and to freely express their spiritual beliefs should be dismissed. to criminalize their behavior

would be the crime." for more, we are joined by winona laduke, longtime indigenous activist and author, an anishinaabekwe enrolled member of the mississippi band of ashinaabeg who lives and works on the white earth indian reservation. founded the white earth land recovery project. her first novel, "last standing woman," was republished this year in a 25th anniversary edition. she is joining us from the white earth reservation, minnesota. winona, welcome back to democracy now! i'm sorry i said the names so badly. >> good morning. anishinaabe. thank you for calling on me. i'm glad to not be in jail. amy: can you talk about the judge's decision, exactly what this means? >> first of all, it was so

significant. i cried when i read her decision because she refers specifically to not only our religious freedom, but also our treaties. we are all members of mississippi anishinaabe and our territory we love is right there. in her decision, she says treaties between the united states and anishinaabe regarding these lands. this courtinds it is within the furtherance of justice to protect the defendants peacefully protesting to protect the land and water on the land addressed in these treaties by dismissing this action against all defendants. it was about our religious freedom, our freedom of assembly, our constitutional rights, but also recognizing our treaty rights -- which is what we have been saying. these are era territories and we have a right and responsibility to protect them. i'm so grateful to the judge but she was clear in her decision

also saying -- she said in the interest of justice, the phrase often and really applied to the defendants. for 40 years she served on these courts, these cases, particularly awakened to her post talked about the fact growing up in minnesota, you had cap was in india's education and you're supposed to adjudicate cases -- cowboys and indians education and you're supposed to adjudicate cases. people charged for being indian, essentially. she brought justice. we appreciate her. juan: could you comment on how the difference between how prosecutors in minnesota treated you and the other free speech posters -- protesters versus the minnesota attorney general who

prides himself on supposedly being aggressive that was much more lenient with enbridge, brought a singleness demeanor charge against them for breaching an aquifer which was dismissed. >> enbridge breached four that we know. the crime committed by the corporation are egregious and ongoing. they have never been charged. one case come the first aquifer breach -- in other words, there is no more water they are making. enbridge is destroying and contaminating our water in an ongoing basis. there been no charges brought for the other three aquifer breaches. enbridge negotiated kind of a hush settlement like we will deal with it and then postpone it. tens of thousands of people wrote attorney general keith ellison and asked him to drop the charges against people like me. i am not a criminal. i am a woman who prayed by the

river. i did my darndest to stop the pipeline. had charges and three counties. tens of thousands of people said to drop the charges. there are still people with felony charges that need to have their charges dropped. enbridge needs to be charged because there the criminals. amy: early 1000 people have been arrested while many charges were dismissed, about 20 are still pending. a few weeks ago we spoke with a water protector whose trial for peacefully protesting enbridge line 3 was about to start in minnesota. she was about to testify that day. she was found guilty of felony obstruction for her role in trying to halt construction and faces a year and a day in prison for 2021 protest when she attached herself to a 25 foot bamboo tower erected to block a pumping station in aiken county. she had come to minnesota to

take part in this wave of indigenous led action a civil disobedience to stop the pipeline. i asked her about her concerns. >> i entered this fully aware of the risk i was taking and not really believing that the justice system in this court would be hearing me fully. so i am aware of what i am risking. i am going there fully aware of the risk, but i'm not scared. i know i stand. i know what my purpose is here. i'm grateful for hearing us today. amy: that is water protector m ylen.

right after we spoke, she went into court and testify. she was found guilty and faces a year in prison. can you talk about her any other people who are still waiting? and are they all before the same judge that acquitted you? >> they are in front of a number of judges up north. some may also be facing jury trials. we facing a jury trial step this is the deep north. i was hoping people would go with a jury trial. it you don't know appear. so having said that, these people -- enbridge is charging people with stealing time because they slow down enbridge so they have this time theft charge. the charges are ratcheted up. they were incentivized by enbridge paying for the police come a $.6 million, and some of the prosecutors were

disappointed enbridge wouldn't pay for the prosecution. having said that, it is shame what is going on in the north, ashamed to minnesota. you know what it shows is the planet is facing climate chaos. here they are testifying and defending a canadian pipeline company that imports 75% of the tar sands into the u.s. and is trying to put a pipeline across the straits of mackinac. late stage addiction behavior is bad and we need to sober up. we need to protect the water in the human rights of people and the animals and not the canadian pipeline corporations. i plan to speak up and help support other folks and we are hoping what the judge ruled here will help the others because we tried everything to stop this company.

none of us want to be arrested, but i will tell you right now i am not a criminal and enbridge is. juan: the protesters at the u.n. general assembly went to times square with the big mural "no green colonialism. land back now!" what hoping to see from the biden administration? >> we want the mines to stop. they're looking at trading our sacred sandy lake where people died by the hundreds. our sacred lake for a mine. we need to reduce our consumption, get efficient, and not try to pretend some new green colonialism is going to change things. there are many choices like infrastructure for people not pipeline companies and not for elon musk. we want to protect the water. thank you so much for taking a look at us in minnesota.

this is the world's water and worth protecting. certainly, we are not criminals. amy: winona laduke, longtime indigenous activist and author, lives and works on the white earth indian reservation. the white earth land recovery foundedthe white earth land recovery project. her first novel, "last standing woman," was republished this

(sophie fouron) it's a little, tiny dot on the map. the star in the constellation of micronesia, between australia and japan. and what is fantastic here, is that when you enter palau, they make you sign a pledge. it's actually on the immigration card. basically, the tourists have to respect the environment. i've never seen such a thing, and apparently they're the first country in the world to impose that on tourists. i can understand why. i have never seen such pristine, emerald and inviting waters. palauan society