While there has been little media attention in the United States, European press is reporting how German-Bulgarian writer and activist Ilija Trojanow was barred from entering the United States this week. A critic of NSA spying programs and professor at The European Graduate School, Trojanow was invited to speak at a literary conference and is well-known for his criticism of the surveillance state. He said that he was given no explanation for being barred from entry.
Trojanow was left stranded at an airport in Brazil.
In a public article, Trojanow denounced his treatment and added in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that “It is more than ironic if an author who raises his voice against the dangers of surveillance and the secret state within a state for years, will be denied entry into the ‘land of the brave and the free.’” He may have a point.
Germans are outraged and I do not understand why this is not a bigger story in the United States. This is a leading civil libertarian critic of our spy agencies. His being barred entry raises a serious question of retaliation against the critics of our government. He has invited the government to explain his being barred entry. I, for one, would like to hear it. If he is a secret spy, drug dealer or terrorist, it will come as a great surprise. Indeed, we generally arrest such people, not send them on their way. The burden is on the Administration to explain such an action taken against one of its most prominent critics. I cannot find any response from the Administration, which has not been shy in the past to release information defending itself in such stories either directly or through leaks. Of course, this is not a story that seems to register with our mainstream media even though tens of thousands of Germans have signed a letter calling on their government to take action.
It is a highly damaging story to our already tarnished image abroad. If the story is untrue, we should hear about it. If the story is true (and the government barred a critic), someone needs to be held accountable for an attack on free speech.
Ilija Trojanow, German Writer, Banned From US For Criticizing NSA
HuffPost Live
By Erin McDonough Posted: 10/01/2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/01/ilija-trojanow-nsa-criticism_n_4024595.html
Excerpt:
Trojanow has written an open letter denouncing the NSA in addition to signing a petition that asks German Chancellor Angela Merkel to forcefully oppose NSA surveillance. He is a professor at The European Graduate School and co-author of a book that examines the surveillance state, with fellow German novelist Juli Zeh.
Zeh also expressed outrage following Trojanow’s detainment in an airport in Brazil. A Facebook post by Zeh, loosely translated, reads, “ This is a farce. Pure paranoia. People who stand up for civil rights are treated as enemies of the state.”
rafflaw: Maybe he had a communicable disease?
I think that is exactly what our government officials are afraid of; from their POV it is the disease called “Righteous Outrage,” unfortunately communicable by speech.
Reblogged this on Brittius.com.
Let us not forget Michael Hastings. The corporate media has contributed to his character assassination. Journalist who are critical of the current power structure of Washington appear to be under attack.
Europe is also talking about the tweet from Brendan Sasso, a reporter for the Hill, regarding comments from NSA and CIA chief Michael Hayden and Mike Rogers, chair of the house intelligence committee, on a panel discussion at the 2013 Cybersecurity Summit. The panel was hosted by the Washington Post
Edward Snowden should be put on kill list joke US intelligence chiefs
“I must admit, in my darker moment over the past several months, I’d also thought of nominating Mr. Snowden, but it was for a different list,” Hayden said during a panel discussion on cybersecurity hosted by The Washington Post.
The audience laughed, and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who was also on the panel, responded, “I can help you with that.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/03/edward-snowden-kill-list-joke-us-intelligence-chiefs
HOpefully the venue will arrange for a webcast for this man to say everything he wants from the safety of a “free country”. Then broadcast it on TV.
How long until critics aren’t simply silenced in the MSM or denied entry?
How long until they start “disappearing”?
If you can’t stand the heat, don’t violate the Constitution and people’s rights with (or without) impunity.
Disgusting.
TURLEY: “Germans are outraged and I do not understand why this is not a bigger story in the United States.”
It’s only a bigger story with media outlets that don’t have a vested interest in either the Republicans or Democratic parties. Perhaps. 🙂
I’m surprised Obama hasn’t called HHS into action to save off the pending sudden outbreak of truth…
… What with the apparent rash outbreak of lying cropping up in select Committees?
Mike, right. A country having former leaders that can’t leave therefrom without worrying about being arrested for war crimes and extradited to a country (two actually) that indicted and convicted them in abstentia has good reason to be fearful. Especially if the programs that got them convicted have not ended. Especially if the programs your critics are discussing have led to or assisted in current and/or ongoing war crimes. How would we know, it’s secret after all?.
It’s because the administration and congress have established the mechanism to create lists of “undesirables” that are to be banned from entry into the US for political reasons.
This is worse in my view than when UK barred entry to Geert Wilders.
We have become the very thing we used to oppose.
As to why the main stream or rather the corporate stream media isn’t covering this story… 1. They want access so they cannot report such things.
2. They don’t want to get deported or arrested or whatever we do to real journalists now a days.
3. It is not part of the program they have been given. Its debt ceiling government shut down season again!
So many possible reasons.
I am no longer surprised at the depth of fear under which our government operates.
Who was it who coined the phrase “convergence”? He referred to the convergence of the Soviet Union and the United States– that we would get more fascist and they would become more capitalist. John Maynard Keynes?
Raff he DOES have a communicable disease. It is called THINKING! That is why the US will not let him in. They did the same to Ernest Mandel who was barred from the US for political reasons.
China has been producing cheep rip-offs of American products for a couple of decades; looks like the boys at ICE decided to return the favor by aping their thought police routine. Turns out Ronnie Reagan was a frickin’ hippie.
Maybe he had a communicable disease??? 🙂
Outrageous. We have become so like the old Soviet Union.
Nick, don’t leave your tounge in your cheek too long, now! You’ll get a case of the cramps! 🙂
Our president is a Constitutional professor. And, he has a superb AG. So, this must be proper.