Don’t Cloak Putin in False Glory

A very thoughtful and supportive comment about RA guest blogger, journalist and environmental activist Grigory Pasko from Australian journalist Jill Singer:

Today, the Russian journalist Grigory Pasko is on a flight back to his homeland after visiting Australia during the APEC summit. Pasko was here to warn Australians of the danger of selling uranium to Putin. Pasko served many years in a Russian labour camp for reporting on Russia’s illegal dumping at sea of nuclear waste. Shortly before his flight home he told me of his fears that he would be arrested upon his arrival home. Why? Because he had the guts to tell Australians of his concern that we are being hoodwinked and that Putin will not use our uranium exclusively for peaceful purposes. If the likes of Paul Keating and John Howard really care about the Russian people, they should have the courage to stand up for the likes of Pasko, rather than cloak Putin in false glory. I suppose that if we can thank APEC for anything, it is the revelation that our world is no longer divided along old-fashioned notions of communist red and conservative blue. Today, it seems there is only one colour that counts, the colour of money.