As I am yet again the target of another smear campaign, I will give a brief rebuttal here that I was denied by our journalists. The media argues that my comments about the detention facility for Ukrainian soldiers outside Kiev are 'disinformation' because the 14-year-old boy who was abused inside the facility was a protester and not a detained conscript. However, I never said that a 14-year-old was conscripted, which makes no sense.
The kid says he was knocked down from the wall and pulled into the facility, where he was beaten with shovels, hit and kicked, while Azov used knives to cut open his clothes (including his underwear) as they filmed it all. After spending an unknown period of time inside the facility, the boy was escorted out of the building wearing a blanket and a terrifying look of shock on his face. We do not know more, partly because our media does not want to know more, and the little coverage there has been has focused on smearing those who mentioned it.
The journalists who contacted me promised that they would also report on the boy's statement, which they predictably did not do. Why is that? Why is it not newsworthy to report on the statement from the 14-year-old boy who was abused? Nothing can get in the way of the smears and the war narratives that criminalise diplomacy and support the notion that weapons are the path to peace. I wrote an article (below) about the event and how the media would whitewash the event and smear criticism, and I even sent it to the journalists who contacted me regarding their hit pieces – yet they seem to have used my article as a manual.
My advice to academics who are critical of how Ukrainians are used by NATO as cannon fodder is to make sure to respond with few words when the journalists come to destroy your reputation. They have to contact you to tick a box as a formality for journalistic practice, although they are free to pick out what they can use from your answer in terms of what fits with the smear piece. Give them only a few short sentences to limit their ability to select a quote meant to deceive, and only give answers in writing so you can document how they mislead their readers.
Journalists got access to my employment documents at the university, and it is no longer a secret that I will soon go into exile after more than 6 years of intimidation. Thus, the attacks are now intensifying, as they only have a few more weeks left.
https://t.co/fFmFN41DbK
Well @PaulMasonNews does incompetently try to present as left-wing, but not even his handlers evidently take that seriously. Glad Paul’s undercover MI5 employment is finally being admitted nonetheless 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶
The @ScotNational hosted a very interesting debate between Robin McAlpine and Alf Baird on its podcast. It was widely viewed and generated lots of discussion.
An opinion piece has subsequently been published in the newspaper rejecting that Scotland is a colony as Alf Baird’s analysis shows.
So, we’re NOT a colony, according to this opinion piece.
It’s the same old talking points you’d fully expect, lots of strawmen that wouldn’t withstand a light breeze.
Every one of these talking points stands no scrutiny and have been fully discounted in various fora, backed by analysis and contemporary accounts.
The National @ScotNational should offer the space for a point by point rebuttal of this nonsense to @ScotSalvo@LiberationScot
https://t.co/UWK6VNy6OF
La France détient dans ses archives diplomatiques d'État la preuve matérielle que la soi-disant "Union volontaire" de 1707 entre deux États souverains via un soi-disant "Traité d'Union" ne fut jamais consentie par l'Écosse. Ce texte ne fut d'ailleurs jamais appliqué, ne constituant rien d'autre qu'un traité colonial, semblable aux plus de 200 traités inégaux que l'Angleterre a imposés par la ruse et la force aux peuples colonisés à travers le monde, maquillant une annexion coloniale statutaire exécutée sous blocus économique, corruption avérée et menace puis invasion militaire.
Pour maintenir cette fiction juridique face au monde, l'État colonial anglais a menti à la communauté internationale, notamment en instrumentalisant les conclusions de la Royal Commission on Scottish Affairs (1952-1954) pour perpétuer le mythe d'une "union volontaire et partenariale" et masquer la réalité de l'annexion.
Ce fait ne relève pas de la querelle historiographique. Les preuves matérielles reposent au cœur des archives du Ministère des Affaires étrangères. Des registres contiennent les rapports de mission et de renseignement militaire du colonel Nathaniel Hooke, envoyé secret de Louis XIV en Écosse en 1707. Hooke y a consigné de première main le rejet massif de l'annexion par la population et la noblesse écossaises, ainsi que l'état de siège imposé par l'armée anglaise.
Sur la base directe de ces pièces, le Conseil d'État réuni à Marly autour de Louis XIV a consigné et qualifié l'opération d'annexion illégale et forcée. En 1965, sous la présidence de Charles de Gaulle, la République française a elle-même levé tout doute en authentifiant, imprimant et publiant ces preuves d'État par le biais de la Commission des Archives diplomatiques du Ministère des Affaires étrangères et des Éditions du CNRS.
La détention et la publication de ces archives ne sont pas des actes mémoriels neutres. Elles engagent la responsabilité juridique contemporaine et continue de la France au regard du droit international public.
1. L'anéantissement de la fiction contractuelle: Le narratif officiel de Londres d'une union consentie entre partenaires égaux est anéanti par les registres d'une chancellerie souveraine contemporaine des faits. Un accord extorqué par la contrainte armée et économique est nul de plein droit (ab initio). L'Écosse n'a jamais consenti à son annexion coloniale.
2. La connaissance d'État opposable: En tant que membre permanent du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, la France dispose d'une connaissance officielle, ininterrompue et déjà publiée de l'illicéité fondamentale de cette annexion. L'argument de l'ignorance diplomatique est juridiquement inopérant face aux mensonges de l'État colonial anglais.
3. Les obligations erga omnes et le jus cogens: L'interdiction d'acquérir un territoire par la contrainte et le droit inaliénable des peuples à l'autodétermination relèvent de normes impératives du droit international général (jus cogens). Il en découle pour la France une obligation stricte due à la communauté internationale dans son ensemble: le devoir de non-reconnaissance de cette situation territoriale illicite et l'interdiction absolue de prêter aide ou assistance au maintien d'une occupation coloniale.
4. Décolonisation et reprise d'État (state resumption) : En droit international de la décolonisation, une annexion illicite ne transfère aucun titre territorial de souveraineté à la puissance occupante. La personnalité juridique de l'État d'Écosse n'a jamais été légalement éteinte. Son droit à la décolonisation et à la réversion de souveraineté demeure imprescriptible.
En publiant ces pièces d'archives souveraines, la France a acté la nature coloniale du "Royaume-Uni" et éventé la supercherie de la Commission royale. Le droit international et le respect des normes erga omnes obligent aujourd'hui @francediplo à aligner sa doctrine diplomatique sur ses propres archives d'État.
@CIJ_ICJ@un@FrenchResponse@francediplo_EN@FranceintheUK@cgfEdimbourg
France Holds the File: A Permanent Member of the UN Security Council Documented Scotland's Annexation in Its Own State Archive & Proved There Was No Voluntary Union. France Published the Proof Itself Under De Gaulle. Its Erga Omnes Obligations Apply. https://t.co/lfDuZMlCqG Still Yours For Scotland - https://t.co/HagHei1kHJ
Maria Zakharova says European leaders are telling on themselves when they try to link the cause of the protests to Russia:
“Certain sections of the population are being denied the very right that their regimes claim to uphold — namely, the right to express their point of view. They do not have that opportunity.
Everything that is happening there is, in essence, just decoration for what they call democracy. Accordingly, all of this keeps building up and building up, and then, so to speak, the gates, the doors, the barriers come off their hinges — the crowd bursts into the streets, smashing and wrecking things, letting off steam.”
The English colonial state is stealing Scottish resources. It's a crime in international law called territorial alienation since there is no territorial union. But you're not doing anything about that. You're accepting English colonialism. Scotland's liberation will happen with the support of the international community via the UN.
Full HD recordings will be uploaded to the SSRG TV YouTube Channel this week. The venue has no CAT 5 internet connection despite the request before booking and no 2.4 GHZ WiFi because the Fife College has phased it out. Without any realisation that every mobile phone every laptop has 2.4 GHZ while only new devices have 5 GHZ. I had 4 laptops 3 of them couldn't connect to the internet. We had to use a mobile 4G antenna 📶 to get a fast enough connection.
The venue sound system uses a HDMI connection to route sound via the big screens. It creates a delay and echo. For a building that was purpose built as a conference centre it cannot deliver the most basic technical requirements. The staff are helpful but the building has too many short comings and no sign posts.
I want to thank everyone who bought a ticket we had over 200 delegates and over 2,000 online and rising.
The Streaming and AV team Stuart and Gary I take my hat's off to you it looks great.
To all the guest speakers thank you and especially to @IainDale who took up my offer and despite our opposing views on Scotland and England's current conditional position I think we share some basic principles on human rights and democracy. He also received some applause.
Just for the record the SSRG book shop top 3 selling titles were:
1. The Common Good Economy
2. Alex Salmond Against the Odds
3. Have I said Too Much
I also want to put a shout out to Dott who is 91 yes old and attended all 3 days. A sharp mind she told me "this has been one of the best conferences I've ever attended". Thank you all.