julian assange says the u.s. must stop prosecuting whistle blowers they mean to shed light on the crimes of the powerful. hundreds of supporters turned out to hear his statement as did hundreds of police officers who were getting floated in their desire to arrest him more coming up in just a moment. and other news of the verdict for punk band pussy riot and you putin's done to and russia's main cathedral is two years behind bars crowds rallied both in support and against the women. but brains prominent human rights activists nabila red jab is a jail for three years while the equal rights movement gains momentum in the gulf states. and the un observers mandate for syria runs out late on sunday

with a new peace envoy confirmed all as reports suggest you can teligent is helping rebels attack the regime. you're watching r t live from moscow first joining us on she has called for the u.s. to stop its witch hunt against whistleblowers and also thing to ecuador for granting him political asylum he made his long awaited statement on the balcony of the latin american countries london embassy surrounded by british police who were ready to sweep him into custody if he set foot outside the building his lawyers smith reports from outside that embassy in london. it has been nothing left in a rally that was several speakers who came on the floor today in a sound sort of whom are packed his longtime supporters including tara cali the renowned station list but of course there was

a serious message behind all this that the old out to support innocence and he really wanted to speak to the people she thanked them he thanked particularly his supporters who are out here today in the hundreds and he thanked them from have for having been here on wednesday night as well when he says that when he was in bed he hurts to movements of police coming up the fire escape inside the door an embassy building here and guns and that they backed off at the last minute and presumably that is in response to the perceived threats by the foreign office head that they would not hesitate to break into the embassy but try to refer you kids diplomatic status and break in that to to arrest him but he said he knew that there would be witnesses thanks to the supporters and so he knew that everything would be ok he also thanked that could do it for holding the constitution of you know that constitution which includes universal citizenship he thanked the stall for this very cramped embassy which he's been staying for the last two months presumably

getting in their way quite a bit and he will say one of the most important things he said was he called upon the u.s. to still put he called the persecution of whistleblowers that's just terrible the fact united states must renounce its witch hunt against wiki leaks. the united states must assume its investigation. the united states must know that it will not seek to prosecute. or else the court of. the united states must quit before the world that it will not pursue journalists for shining shining a light on the secret crimes of the powerful. i'm very lucky to be joined now by one of those with two players craig murray who is the former british ambassador to as pakistan and a whistleblower himself he blew the whistle on british government abuses and simple

been. great thanks very much for talking to us now what do you think julian assange as this case tells us about the treatment of whistleblowers well i think up close and labor's a long history of whistleblowers being smeared and charged with crimes unrelated to their whistle blowing because obviously it's quite difficult for states to convict people of telling the truth about state misdemeanors so what you do is through. with the charges very often sexual charges because were destroyed for personal reputation the foreign office now insists that it didn't mean to say that it would storm the embassy to go in and arrest you in essence what do you make of of william hague's comments and of the foreign office attitude in general for foreign offices law and even its attempts to crack down because it's trying to solve so diplomatically isolated it most certainly did say about both in person and in writing to the government of ecuador. at the very moment it was saying about fifty policemen moved into the building but not into the plant containing the ecuadorian

embassy there's no doubt whatsoever that this was a deliberate to ditch the vienna convention on behalf of the british foreign office what do you say to william hague. william hague bill is made to pull themselves he . first time he wants me to interview in which he said that as a student who used to drink fourteen points of beer a day i think he must have done twenty eight pints of beer before coming up with a threat to storm could or an embassy. decision to grant political asylum is being closely monitored in the us washington has not admitted it's planning to request a sundress extradition but a number of american politicians aren't holding back some going so far as should demand a son to be tried and executed i tease marina portnoy reports from new york. while julian assange his mother is calling this a victory for her son many see this as a small defeat for the u.s. and that is because many believe the u.s.

was hoping that julian assange would be extradited to sweden so that sweden would subsequently be able to extradite julian assange to the united states we have heard in recent years it's no secret former and current u.s. government officials quavering julian assange too are terrorists and that was in the aftermath of him releasing cables and memos that were classified that belonged to the u.s. government as a result the integrity of the u.s. government was compromised a lot of secrets were revealed and it painted the u.s. foreign policy in a dark light it's no secret that the administration of u.s. president barack obama has been earning a reputation for waging a war on whistleblowers fiercer reputation than any of his predecessors many journalists scholars and activists in the u.s. have signed a letter of support for julie the songe one is including naomi wolf she's

a journalist and author first of all this is a white house now to weigh houses obama's and bush's which is systematically overclassifying everything especially wrong doing it specially anything related to what whistleblowers want to release specially you know torture that even gauged in methods of torture like mafia tactics it's come to this the government same to journalists everywhere in america. we're going to do you and we're going to threaten you and we're we're threatening you with with serious legal penalties like prison time if you do your job when i was speaking with naomi wolf what she wanted to clarify for me and her position is that she sees julio sondra many do as the publisher similar to the new york times julian assange is the publisher of the one that made the information available he is not the leaker she noted why isn't the u.s. government going after the new york times for publishing what wiki leaks published instead the u.s. government it is

a presumed is all to me hoping to go after julian songe either way she said that this is this would be a dark day for all journalists in the u.s. if he would be in the custody of america prosecuted held indefinitely or possibly even face capital punishment while under house arrest in london the world's top whistleblower in light of problem activism think of the news makers to voice their opinions on things that matter one of them or as accurate as president rafael correa in the while some had never even previously appeared on international television watch every episode of jimmy messenger's the interview show on our website at our sons dottie dot com. on friday three women from russian punk group pussy riot who were jailed for two years each for their anti putin stunt in the country's main off the docks cathedral the women's performance was ruled to be hooliganism motivated by religious hatred the decision drew crowds of people outside the court to reading both in support of and

against the banned artie's peter all of the details. but he gave any reason that you move the finish line you possibly have another edge the end of any division if one were to set up another one this morning because i knew that i was really from british. after their trial hit headlines around the world a global audience was watching as maria. and he cut it in a somewhat sea of each found out their fate for their performance with a punk rock prayer in russia's main to phaedra outside the courts a large group gathered with both those supporting the women and those opposed to them turning up to voice their opinion the was amongst the crowd were prominent members of the anti-government protest movement who had allying the pussy riot cause with their own as the throngs massed tempers

flared and police announcements to keep calm were ignored as over fifty people from both sides were detained for public order offenses common damned by some celebrated by others their performance in this cathedral lasted for a little more than a minute and a half but it's perhaps made pussy riot the most recognizable russian music act in the world. but where did they come from under various guises the three women who were jailed on friday have been no strangers to controversy in the past pussy riot grew out of a performance art group which had staged an orgy in a museum filmed a woman performing a sex act on a chicken in a supermarket and kissed on duty female police officers to cathedral performance though took things to another level church groups burned images of the women and of madonna who had spoken out on the side of pussy riot i think they belong to some sect which conducts a tannic rituals and elsewhere a church in russia was daubed with the slogan down with religious fanatics and in

ukraine a topless member of the group. mean could down a cross with a chain saw and offer from playboy for a photo shoot pussy riot merchandise do law has led some to even question was this all an elaborate quest for fame they achieved their goal of. becoming really world famous by doing what they did and when they are released they will in fact travel the world and become famous there were achieved their goal after the two year sentence for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred was handed down the online response heated up with many shocked by the length of the jail term my personal opinion is to be honest usually for the thing they call hooliganism you get fifteen days for i've heard so i really wish they would have gotten fifteen days the more standard polish went but the court in a group of my position with lawyers for the jailed women said to appeal the verdict don't expect the debates between supporters of pussy riot and those opposed to fade

away any time soon peter all of the moscow. obviously the pussy riot centers of provokes a massive international reaction and i'm of gatherings backing the band was stage across the globe including spain france britain and other countries foreign governments also had their say with the usa in calling on the authorities to review the case while denouncing the sentence as disproportionate larry jacobs managing director of the world congress of family says the coverage of the pussy riot trial was hyped by the western media. i don't really expect immediate sood necessarily. always report truthfully the u.s. and western europe we have seen some of the same issues so it's politicized the issue that made it about objection to putin and about supposedly a political statement but again. you know we have plenty of opportunities to make

political statements and that we need to be responsible for our actions and there's no question that they were that they were guilty of any group is free to protest. if it's again on a place where they. know they're not violating someone else's rights in this case they certainly violated the rights of the church they trust other vandalised and so you have to expect the consequences. right here with r t coming up in a few minutes domine nearing the waters of age of pacific as washington's growing presence in the reason tries the patience of fading. also as muslims around the world want the end of the holy month of ramadan ideal upset how celebrations are going in russia. a prominent human rights activist has been jailed for three years in behind not be rejected was found guilty of

inciting anti-government protests through his speeches and online posts for eighteen months the protesters in the gulf state have been calling for democratic reform and an end to what they claim as a religious discrimination the trains are oil family has been accused of brutally suppressing the rallies with police reportedly using tear gas and rubber bullets on armed protesters and the lack of criticism of the crackdown from the u.s. and its european allies is speak for itself says geopolitical analyst patrick henningsen. not be a rock. the canary. the coal mine this is a genuine democratic movement as far as i can see this is a real arab spring moment and this is been completely ignored discounted by the west in favor of their strategic alliance with bahrain and wonder and really scratch their heads and say what really is the stance of the west in particular washington london when it comes to actual democratic reforms in the middle east

certainly there's a there's a big park we see a big story of contradiction going on right now the british open this particular minority royal family in power there are sunni extremist minority ruling over a shiite majority this is the sort of thing that is commonplace in a lot of pockets and so these pressure water these are artificial states they're really created in order to secure certain interests for the west this is a neocolonial structure the other two are bahrain saudi arabia they say they're in the center of this and these are the same countries that are fomenting supplying logistically and financially the rebels and the terrorists in syria you know why why isn't saudi arabia send suicide bombers into bahrain why don't they hillary clinton send guns friends of bahrain why isn't the friends of bahrain meeting to

send weapons to the democratic protesters in bahrain. right out team is working twenty four hours a seven days a week to provide you with the best stories and pictures from around the world find them on our website at out com and here's a quick look at what's. oh yeah big brother not only has his eye on you but he's listening to you and it's legal american police are now allowed to track mobile phones and get a uses g.p.s. private data without the point why aren't. they all line which hundreds cursing an enemy with a hacksaw finding the time to make a love affair of a faithful has just become a little holiday online auction yeah e-bay has banned the sale of all forms of magic. the new u.n. envoy for syria confirmed earlier this week has admitted he has a tough job i hate with the first toss overcoming divisions within the security council the current do you want observer mission mandate for syria expires later on

sunday prison asset has made a rare public appearance at a damascus mosque seen performing eat of fatah or pray is his outing comes amid reports quoting opposition officials that british intelligence is aiding rebels to attack regime forces apparently the turks are being used to pass information and moscow's strongly opposing u.s. calls for no fly zone over syria saying it could lead to a catastrophe in this as the rebels claimed responsibility for this week's blast near the hotel where you were observers were stationed archies oksana boyko says the ongoing violence in that country has provided al qaeda with yet another stage for its attacks. blasts and gunfire daily occurrences here in damascus but once the explosion right next to the u.n. have porters was something out of ordinary it took place at a heavily guarded army garage and you can probably see a fuel tanker on there which the explosive device was planted still standing over

there in terms of the damage it was relatively minor a few shattered windows in this hotel and in the building next to us but this explosion definitely attracted a lot of media attention because of the proximity to the u.n. have borders now the free syrian army already claimed responsibility for this blast even though they said that they never intended to target the u.n. observers and that they were aiming for the syrian army personnel in any case this explosion of really underscores how easily available and how widely used explosives have become these days in syria in the beginning of the syrian uprising the rebels primarily on small arms but over months they have become and precisely more sophisticated in bomb making and many experts attribute that to an influx of foreign fighters in particular iraqi insurgents who bring with them a lot of bomb making expertise the iraqi government even went on record to say that

they have solid information that al qaeda was crossing from iraq into syria to carry out those attacks on the top of that reuters news agency published a story a few days ago in retreat quoted an f.s.a. field commander who was saying that thanks to you at the extreme of iraqi insurgents they've been able to increase the debt to nation range of their bombs up to seven kilometers also the use of mobile phones to sad those bombs off something that is very common in iraq and that was extremely rare in syria is now becoming more and more widely. what many in the west fail to recognize is that terrorism is not necessarily a derogative term it's a descriptive term to denote a guerrilla warfare a tactic that justifies the use of terror the use of violence for achieving political goals and that the same groups that muster the terror tactics and bomb

making skills on iraqi civilians on the us soldiers in iraq and now applying the same expertise here in syria a subway car t.v. reporting from damascus in syria. reports the u.s. and some of its western allies are seeking to build more direct links with the rebels while trying to distance themselves from the syrian national council dr abraham from the university in amman says by backing the opposition washington is only adding to the violence in syria. the rebels as you have seen are made up of the front bands there are outlaws there are muslim brothers there are al qaida supporters and the from places they cooperate or they compete against one another sometimes using guns so the purpose here is to destroy the country and many syrians and arabs have come to see that for what it is. syria is supposed to

fall into chaos and fragmentation as has happened and somalia before and so the united states has been engaged and implementing the design of creation of chaos in syria so what we have here is an armed rebellion that is being supported financed and politically covered why these people the dollars mainly money earned from selling oil and in the service of imperialism and these people have been raising and waving the flags of freedom and democracy but we have seen some of their cross at these they have committed in syria i would say at least more than half the population are solidly behind. the regime now and these people may have grievances and they may have things that they want to change about that regime but they are definitely against the fragmentation of syria and the feeling

syria's streets with blood as has been happening recently as you have seen. now some other headlines from around the world two people have been killed and several injured by twin car bombing in the libyan capital tripoli the attack comes a year since the fall of the city to rebel forces loyalists of former leader moammar gadhafi of being blamed meanwhile libya's general national congress declared the toppled leader son saif gaddafi will stand trial next month on charges of ordering the killing of dissenters. thousands of protesters rallied in china and hong kong against japan's claim to a contest an island protesters shouted anti japanese slogans growing flags and attacked japanese restaurants and cause the demonstration was sparked after a japanese activists raised their flag on the disputed tokyo controlled territory which china cleans. the muslims all around the world are celebrating easter

the end of ramadan it's a day to break their father's go to mosque the visit and congratulate their relatives and friends and give to charity the past month has been a time of spiritual reflection and improvement achieved through fasting and devoting more time to prayers and reciting the koran. this is also a big day for millions of muslims in russia artie's jacob grieves looks at how the holiday is being celebrated. around russia i have been waking up very early indeed before sunrise putting all some of the best clothes as is tradition on this holy day also the be flocking to nearby mosques and the graces mosque in moscow is the one just behind me which is currently being referred to seen tens of thousands of people not molest lining the surrounding streets here the listening servants have also been giving praise to god this is coming on the end on the back of the

holy month of ramadan known for fasting and this festival this day so theater now actually translates as the breaking of the fast so we can expect many things to be taking place in moscow and around russia with friends and family have been somewhat more by what transpired late saturday evening in the russian republic of dagestan to mass gunman stormed a local mosque they shot and injured eight people in social also there was a bomb misses found containing forty kilograms of t.n.t. of explosives it took some time but have managed to fuse that bomb threats. well a criminal case has been opened in the nearby republic of english air tear where suicide bomb i carried out an attack killing at least seven police men the blast struck as a group of officers arrived at the funeral of their colleagues shot dead in an assault on saturday they were offering their condolences when an attacker and to

the whole chart of a private home and exploded over a dozen locals were wounded in the blast but your political face off between china and america in asia pacific is causing widespread tension in the region the u.s. is concerned with china's increasing influence so isabella ping military ties with its neighbor. explains why the obama administration is paying special attention to nations which have territorial disputes with china. they are courting each other at official meetings but it's a different story under the table with the u.s. employing a return to asia policy ties between washington and beijing are getting tense. becoming. the u.s. . is having a long war because. they

are coming to the region. trying to. find out. and that intention has already been felt south korea the philippines and vietnam have already held nato military exercises with several more countries in the region expected to have similar war games soon during a recent extensive tour of the asian pacific u.s. secretary of defense leon panetta said washington will relocate at least sixty percent of its naval fleet to the region by the end of the decade there's a reason for such moves has been china's territorial disputes with the philippines in the south china sea but experts say that's only an excuse the u.s. is now promising some kind of support for the armed forces modernization creating a so-called minimum credit credible defense posture but the end the end result would be more in favor of the u.s. than in the philippines seeing that the u.s. or so many economic and business interests in china it wants to keep china obedient

to whatever. you have at in store for china so all the treaty allies from japan south korea australia the philippines you're being mobilized right now to encircle china and keep it subservient to the u.s. dictate in interests with a deeply checkered historic background of the u.s. military presence in the region many concerns have been raised the united states has for many many battles and. should be considered something of great alarm for the. people of the continent fearing full scale conflict in the region beijing is looking for a helping hand and it has look no further than its closest neighbor during a recent state visit to china hu jintao seemed glad to know he had russia's support with pledges to boost already strong military ties all but making this point clear while panetta says washington the must stay vigilant in the face of china's growing military beijing hasn't yet openly criticize the new u.s.

agenda in the asian pacific region all the statements by the officials so far have been mild declarations of dismay and warnings of a destabilizing situation but experts both in china and abroad believe this is just the calm before the storm and that beijing in fact is growing less and less tolerant of washington's behavior. reporting from beijing in china. by shortly we'll learn about the daily life of one of russia's unique communities but i'll bring you the headlights first stay with us.

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