5 replies to this topic

[Honoured Guest]

Were you there? http://www.royalcour...iday-17-august/

[Abby]

No (at work sadly), but brilliant to see the Royal Court doing this - it always gives me a warm feeling when arts bodies stand up for artistic freedoms generally.

[Epicoene]

Abby, on 17 August 2012 - 03:21 PM, said:

No (at work sadly), but brilliant to see the Royal Court doing this - it always gives me a warm feeling when arts bodies stand up for artistic freedoms generally.

Not sure why the Royal Court should spend their grant getting so exercised over this (non-theatrical) issue, why not protest about the lack of artistic freedom in Iran (say) ? I suppose they have to balance the benfit of showing their right-on 1970's-style left-wing posturing against the danger of their target regime retaliating in some way.

[Abby]

I reckon there's just as much to fear from Putin as Iran - polonium in your sustainably-sourced sushi would give you more than a headache...

[Epicoene]

Here is another deserving case for the Royal Court. Alexander Barankov wrote an apparently factual blog detailing corruption in Belarus. This annoyed the dictator of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko so much that although Barankov was not actually living in Belarus Lukashenko contacted the president of the country where he was living and had him arrested and thrown into jail where he has been for the past several months awaiting extradition to Belarus.

This would seem like an even more valid cause for protest than that of a punk band who performed, uninvited, in a church to protest about the activities of the church - if that happened in a UK church I doubt the Royal Court would be protesting at all.

One small problem for the Royal Court leftists would be the country who has arrested Barankov on behalf of a dictator is Ecuador, that becaon of freedom who have granted diplomatic immunity to Assange - doesn't really fit the leftists narrative to critcise them.

[Lynette]

I don't mind the RC doing this. As long as they do it for me if necessary.