julian assange is dying in a u.k. prison clients with sedatives and subjected to 23 hours of solitary confinement a day from the sun. and the cool from the wiki leaks co-founder on christmas eve. iranian nuclear deal is as good as dead if you couldn't respond to us pressure that's the message from the. top diplomats in moscow also to come this. close we begin a review of the key events the shapes 2019 including the violent street protests the seem to practically every corner of the globe.

other thanks for joining us this is. julian assange is slowly dying in a u.k. jail as he's regularly tranquilized and kept in solitary confinement 23 hours a day in a phone call to his friend on christmas eve the wiki leaks co-founder made those disturbing revelations sons was arrested in april and since then medics and un observers of warned about his the climbing physical and mental health hearing in february will decide on his extradition to the united states where he's accused of publishing classified documents and could face up to a 175 year sentence. will smith an independent video journalist also a friend of julian a science in canada joins me on the line now very good evening to you. imagine julian assange has got too many phone calls he could make but he did make one of

them to you i believe on christmas eve what did he say about how he feels his mental physical condition and the conditions of belmarsh prison where he is. and to be honest he didn't talk too much about his conditions julian rang me because he spent christmas with me and my family in 2010 while on bail time ago i think he simply wanted a few minutes of skate and to talk to us because of the memories he had of that happy marriage and he was sickly slur his speech was slurred he was speaking slowly now julian is a highly articulate very clear person when he speaks and he sounded awful and it was very upsetting to hear him so he didn't actually say that he was sedated it seemed pretty obvious that he was and the idea of him being sedated has come from several people who visited him who clearly being told and the british government have been asked about it and they refuse to address that matter what they say is

they're not mistreating him but clearly he's being kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day and then is allegations and i think we need to know more about it what is happening to julian what are they doing. i just wonder what your thoughts were at the time because it must you must have had lots of questions you wanted to ask him out of natural curiosity especially given you're a journalist but at the same time you're thinking let's talk about what he wants to talk about. yes i understood from what he said that he was allowed one cool and for christmas and that he chose to call us and so he spoke to my family and to my wife and my children and i we just wanted to do what we could to cerium up it was it was incredibly sad to hear him he's he's always you having a really vital time and i just i just don't understand. so why is he in belmarsh prison in the 1st place he's he's

a ramones prisoner actually putting somebody in belmarsh is an incredibly expensive thing to do why we spending that money on julian assange he's not a danger to the public i want to ask you given that the reports he's in solitary confinement why on earth would that be one tends to think of perhaps dangerous individuals or people who are danger to themselves being put in solitary confinement but why julian assange. i think the british government needs to some questions here and we're not getting the answers there are too many questions like this and now that the thing is what is clear is that what is happening to julian is much more about vengeance and session example to dissuade other people from holding american power to account in this way so actually perhaps we're supposed to know these things about him i mean it sounds awful but is that really possible i think we need some answers from from the british government why are they treating him like this why can't we have some independent assessments of 100 international

doctors and asked to arrange a visit at least a sender some representatives to check on him but that hasn't been allowed nils meltzer the u.n. route which are on torture has been very clear about a sounders mistreatment and describes it in the most appalling terms and yet his claims very recently in november that the british government have completely ignored his request to see julian probably his health properly assess. her getting compare. to deal in a size that you know in terms of how he spoke in his spirit. julian was extremely good company over christmas in 2010 he had a great christmas despite the fact that his restraints on how to live only in my house his whole face looked different you know ease last more than 15 kilograms and

he was very good company and just haring him on the phone he sounded awful and he said to me that i'm slowly dying here and he said that also who for my own why not of course my children his father keeps telling us that his father is telling us this do you know we must stop this what i find so depressing as a country is clearly we harbor political prisoners we have political prisoners because that's exactly what he is i didn't think that we were the sort of country that mistreated them in this way this must be quite shocking you know given what what we know of julian assange has even the public know this is a man is obviously got strongly held beliefs and principles he was willing to effectively defacto be imprisoned inside an embassy for several years for what he believes and to hear him. sound so downbeat must be quite shocking. it is shocking and i think it it show it reveals a lot about our country that i think we need to attend to i think a country is judged by the way it treats people look but perhaps

a contentious perhaps we don't agree with today absolutely generations will treat him quite differently or consider him differently about what's happened many times historically i think we have to find a way to treat people like julian assange who are saying things to us that perhaps not all of us want to hear in a you know in a in a way that reflects the values of the society that we claim to whole. i'm just thinking he's not been found of any wrongdoing as of yet apart from you or might argue skipping bail but obviously he believes he's running away from charges that he never carried out if he should let's say speculate be found completely innocent of any charges he's extradited to the u.s. doesn't go to prison what on earth can you do to try and make things right given everything that julian assange has been through. i think that's a very interesting question but please remember he served the time for the bail charge and he served his time to that he's now on remarks it's highly unusual to

put a remand prisoner in belmarsh when they're not a threat of a physical or violent threat to society. many of the court cases that he's about to have a case his main case in february is going to be held at belmarsh where there's restricted public access the whole thing really we need to be asking more questions than this needs to be much more held much more in the open and as for how any. redress such ills i don't think that ever happens julian has had his freedom compromised for nearly a decade now is completely disgraceful this is bullying and it deserves better you talked about the 60 doctors writing to the u.k. government you've got medical experts saying they are fearful for julian assange his medical condition julian assange himself is telling you that it feels like he's dying in prison it all appears to make no sense at all the fact he's been held in

such conditions what do you think the fears of the government are because they seem to be breaking the normal way they would treat a prisoner in this situation what is in the so afraid of. i think in this world where elections can be won on facebook where information is power and the authorities can gather a great deal of information and present amount of information i think julian represents. something for the public good i think concerns power because potentially it constrains it and what julian represents is incredibly important to the public and i think it's time. to say and say that we want some answers and we'd like to sleep to have people treat a little bit better you know of course what jr has done is contentious what he did is he delivered a discussion and debate about what transparency should look like in the digital age in the internet age the debate got squashed it never really happened instead he's

being victimized and. been promoted with a vast smear campaign online as somebody who's a threat to the public that's why he's in belmarsh i think it's very worrying it's also very worrying to journalism what's happening to julian is extradited to america and it does open the door was similar sort of matters similar sort of cases and restrictions to happen to the more regular press who won't have the protection of julian function as he set himself up to deliver was to process whistleblower material so will we not get that nothing all that julian has published has been inaccurate it's all been the truth isn't at all we have the truth isn't that of great importance to the public to have the truth and i just wonder as a journalist myself my biggest concern out of what you think is that. here is publish these materials and seems to been punished prior to any kind of official

trial i mean the man's been through hell and back and he's yet to be tried for anything that concerns me what about you oh and i'm very concerned and i think the case that. and probably it's going to be very interesting and i'm hoping that there's a great deal of public interest in it because it should be great public concern but on the one hand the act the extradition act which of the us from the u.k. doesn't allow for the extradition of political. prisoners so i don't know how about what the other thing is the americans have been caught spying on julian assange his legal team and that's something of a no no 2 i mean how can you have a fair trial if the prosecutors have access secret access because they spied on the french team and the head and it was clearly said and in court and i heard him but he didn't feel able he didn't have access to the materials he needed to participate in as the rams and yet still it hasn't changed and i'm i'm extremely worried

because i think it reflects our country's legal system in a way that clearly that you know the law is not applied equally to us all and i find that deeply shocking one goalie peter coming on thanks for your time with independent video journalist friend of the in science thank you thank you for having me thank you. and to other news now around foreign minister mohammed is jealous zarif is on a working visit in moscow earlier he met russian counterpart sergey lavrov he stated that the west must return to compliance with the iran's nuclear deal. so you know this that's because. the u.s. is forcing of the countries not to fulfill their obligations despite iran's compliance with the reached agreements we demand that the us and the e.u. both return to full implementation with their obligations voluntarily and then iran would do the same but if our western partners do not want to confirm their respect

for international law then the g.c. pos must be recognized as dead or to be not united states is trying to impose its will on other countries and make them violate international norms and standards as for the european position on the way politically they support it but in practice they do not do enough to counter the u.s. sanctions we think the europeans should stick to their commitments. apart from discussing the prospects for the nuclear deal the top diplomats touched on bilateral relations with iran's foreign minister saying they're written a story called high point for later visit china is there will come as china iran and russia conduct their 1st joint drills terrorism an anti piracy training and the being held in the northern part of the indian ocean as well as in the gulf of oman region includes key shipping and energy supply routes and is a source of tension between tehran and washington professor side mohammad marandi from the university of tehran believes the drills are a message to washington it can no longer dictate global terms unilaterally. the

united states. still sees itself as the head of a uniformed world and or wants to see itself as the head of the appalled world and the europeans of course are. will abide by the united states no matter who's in charge of the country whether it's who they are most european leaders just like or anyone else but the reality is that we've moved beyond that stage the united states is on the relative decline countries like iran russia and china are on the rise the united states is going to have to accept and recognize the new situation and i think that the fact that these 3 countries actually carried out these maneuvers together jointly all 3 together is a major significance and it sends a message to the united states that they can no longer dictate terms. to lead we continue our review of the past year and look at some of the kid living unrest

in latin america that's after this short break. join me every thursday on the alex simon chill and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics. i'm showbusiness i'll see if there. is a long held tradition on cross talk to take stock of the year that is about to pass we have a look at what moved us what changed and what gave us concern us 2019 the good the bad and the up. a lot of it here is economy where china has caught up or surpassed us you know the mobile payments market 50 times the size of

the u.s. or over here still writing checks our banking system is not innovated. kind of recently woken up the last couple years and go wow we don't even have a company that can make 5 g. equipment it's been a win win for china and it's been a lose lose for the u.s. that's. welcome back now with 2020 just around the corner let's continue our look back at some of the key events of the year. ok so lots to choose from today's topics although let's find out. ok we've got streets of rage and the mysteriously titled mind games so let's see what stories

the 1st of these has for the streets of rage and violent protests they were prevalent all around the world from the other vests in paris to the anti beijing riots in hong kong and of course don't forget latin america so that's one of the options let's focus on that. you know the continent has had more than its fair share of turmoil in 29000 protests rage from venezuela bolivia to chile and quit all so it's to get to the artes don't quarter breaks it down for us. it started as a spark the next thing you know the inferno of revolution is all around you and can't be extinguished that is the south america of 2019.

what's crucial if that's your aim is to find just the right moment to stir up dissent. venezuela's chaos was the epicenter right after the country reelected president nicolas maduro washington pounced challenging the government's legitimacy and trying to provoke a coup. i'm mike pence nicolas maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power and it gracefully in doubt the legitimacy to run venezuela upon the leader of the opposition to me i swear to formally assume the duties of the national executive as president of venezuela president trump officially recognize the president of the venezuelan national assembly one goh i do is the interim president of venezuela the time is now to

support the venezuelan people to recognize the new democratic government led by interim president gore though the safety and security of president and his family are of great importance to the american people why don't try too hard to win over the military but when it became clear it stood behind a majority washington rolled out some empty threats are you hearing very well that is what i consider getting thing but all options are on the table all of these are all options are on the table all options are on the table because. not just the result of the united states and steamrolled the country with sanctions adding to the suffering of ordinary people already living through economic collapse but is it really democracy that washington and its allies were interested in or perhaps this has something more to do with black gold or what is donald trump's cases against venezuela the cases bellow is the only live in his way now the riches

of venezuela it's gold gas diamonds iron water a material riches resource grabbing hasn't only been confined to venezuela in the region. bolivia seen its own share of unrest this year but there are right wing coup was successful the elected president abel morales forced to step down and flee the country there's either why am i resigning so that my opponents cannot continue to myself. brothers it's my duty as an indigenous president and the president of all believe in this to seek peace after morale has got the boot senator janine anya is proclaimed herself interim president not exactly a household name before that but what's more important is who had her back and he guesses we pledge our support to the believe in people and to the transitional government led by president janine and yes as they prepare for these elections. we

support you need 9 years in bolivia as she would to ensure a peaceful democratic transition through free elections and just like in venezuela it's ordinary people who are paying the price for a regime change. that . seeing the parallels here's another one lithium is in high demand in the united states and that valuable resource also happens to be in abundance in bolivia. chile has also been no stranger to disorder where clashes have been deadly a times thousands have rallied since mid october demanding the president resign and the constitution be revised there have already been widespread reports of torture

and unlawful killings following the military's deployment. but on these protests the u.s. has been silent maybe it's because the president is sebastian piñera a harvard graduate who's free market policies have shown he's happy to do business with the u.s. the case is not so different from this next country. at last we have ecuador a country that became engulfed in protests after the government carried out i.m.f. backed severe austerity policies.

yet again silence from the us and the reason is pretty much the same as with chile the us supported the government's newfound allegiance with the i.m.f. washington might pick and choose the battles that benefit its interests the most but at the end of the day fire is fire it doesn't care who it burns and when a whole continent is set ablaze it becomes extremely difficult to extinguish and in $29000.00 latin america wasn't the only continent that went through a to most us period will bring you the recap of this year's protest on tuesday for now though let's circle look at another topic. further into our highlights and mind games with having into this you have been trolling the way people think and the role of social media in all of that is the place was playing mind games with me and there we go you see just when you think you know what's happening it's not quite so obvious are things that were trying to take

a look at how the tech behemoth has become the censor in chief when it comes to what we can and cannot say. i'll tell you what having this job for 6 years has made me report on censorship quite a few times look at this freshman giorno patrolling co asking about facebook censorship at a press briefing hey man you have no idea what awaits you and 29. by the end of the decade look at it the evolution of online platforms has gone all the way towards 0 tolerance for offenders even though it all one started down there with pretty much 0 regulation but who decides what exactly makes someone an offender all right let's dig into the 2900 stage of the evolution look at these one by one and check out their censorship record.

you true work hard on reading their platform of harassment see the latest update to their harassment policy came out in december go on read into it you'll find words like veiled threats and ply threats right there warning that whatever that's supposed to mean will be punished and you'll find 0 examples and no proper details. because it was in force these policies seemingly random oh no it's a tool so one should not trust them to do it now i'm skeptical one of the late night hosts allowed to gross people and pick on people's physical appearance but on the you tube is comment so you put on to new guidelines they don't set lines and they don't go right. the latest in a series of policy updates after the previous ones you tube didn't hesitate to take action the result record breaking numbers of accounts and videos taken down.

in 29 facebook really took us all by surprise by showing what it takes to put on a new face not that it looked like they were keen to do it but someone just happened to notice that while trying to dodge a defamation lawsuit facebook prefer to itself as a publisher look at this mature c.e.o. telling congress his network is a tech company not a media one well that happened before 2019 in the new era f.b.i. gave itself the green light to censor just about anything which they've been up to quite strenuously although in march when the new zealand shooter live streamed a massacre of 50 people everyone was like where the hell were the moderators or censors or anyone to stop this another thing i won't call anyone out for consistency but in a recent interview mr zuckerberg said no to censoring political ads even if they

contain lies in what i believe is that in a democracy it's really important that people can see for themselves what politicians are saying it's that they can make their own judgments and i don't think that a private company should be censoring politicians or news this tech giants however have been blamed for screwing up a bit of campaigning like when gabbert for instance challenged google for taking down her ads this alarming trend has been growing with tech giants continuing to silence voices and restrict access to information this concentration of power and influence is a direct threat to our democracy by the way did you know about this side to it 29000 sauda list. facebook moderators claiming to have p.t.s.d. growing with a former employee suing the social media giant even though the company said it was offering all the required support. well no

point in digging too deep if the story's repeating itself twitter has mastered the art of new era suspensions and bans to the vagueness of the rules probably isn't so much to worry about so you can get in trouble for it can be many things from supporting join a songe to pulling a prank on the fans of the cats movie but just keep in mind what kind of folks you may find among twitter's staff british army psyops soldier war saudi arabia is tasked with digging into the counts of the kingdom's critics well we'll keep using all of them anyway right let's wish the industry pioneers well in wherever the volution takes them in the new year. this is christmas still haven't quite worked out so he's going to. be a bit show up

a bit better when i come back with more review of the year. low in welcome to crossfire where all things are considered on peter lavelle it is a long held tradition on cross talk to take stock of the year that is about to pass we have a look at what moved us what changed us and what gave us concern us 2019 the good the bad and the ugly. locking in the year that was i'm joined by my guest robert bridge he's an r.v. website writer we also have dimitri bobbitt she is a political analyst and editor at internet media project and in nicosia we cross

alex crystal for oh he is the director and writer for the duran dot com originally cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i always appreciate all right let me go 1st to alex in nicosia you know alex so much happened this year it seems like the timelines get shorter and shorter and the pace continues at a greater speed here but if i'm taking stock here it seems to me the disconnect between the liberal liberal media in the liberal elites with everybody else because we kind of stretches out you know brags that 2016 that was a one off trump 20068 that was a one off and now it's go to this year the election that's a one off you know it's not this is a trend that's going on here and we're all told no no no no this is not a trend these are one offs i think that 2019 was the year hey don't you finally get it go ahead alex yeah i agree with that assessment peter i think the.