The following video is brought to you courtesy of the RT America YouTube Channel. Click the video below to watch it now.
On the show, Chris Hedges discusses the ongoing persecution of human right lawyer, Steven Donziger.
Judge Loretta Preska, an advisor to the conservative Federalist Society, to which Chevron is a major donor, sentenced the human rights attorney and Chevron nemesis Stephen Donziger to six months in prison on October 1st for misdemeanor contempt of court after he had spent 787 days under house arrest in New York.
Preska’s caustic outbursts—she said at the sentencing, “It seems that only the proverbial two-by-four between the eyes will instill in him any respect for the law”—capped a judicial farce worthy of the antics of the presiding judges at the major show trials of the Great Purges in the Soviet Union or the Nazi judge Roland Freisler who once shouted at a defendant “You really are a lousy piece of trash!”
Donziger, a graduate of Harvard Law School, has been fighting polluting American oil companies for nearly three decades on behalf of indigenous communities and peasant farmers in Ecuador. His only “crime” was winning a $9.5 billion judgment in 2011 against Chevron for thousands of plaintiffs. The oil giant had bought Texaco oil company holdings in Ecuador, inheriting a lawsuit alleging it deliberately discharged 16 billion gallons of toxic waste from its oil sites into rivers, groundwater, and farmland. Since the verdict, Chevron has come after him, weaponizing litigation to destroy him economically, professionally, and personally.
The sentencing came a day after Donziger petitioned the court to consider an opinion by the United Nations Human Rights Council that found his house arrest a violation of international human rights law. The U.N. Human Rights Council said his house arrest counted as detention under international law and it was therefore illegal for Judge Preska to demand an additional six months in jail. Amnesty International also called for Donziger’s immediate release.
Donziger and his lawyers have two weeks to appeal the judge’s order that Donziger be sent immediately to jail. Preska denied Donziger bail claiming he is a “flight risk.” If the Federal Court of Appeals turns down Donziger’s appeal he will go to jail for six months. The irony, not lost on Donziger and his lawyers, is that the higher court may overturn Preska’s ruling against him, but by the time that decision is made he will potentially have already spent six months in jail.
#QuestionMore #RTAmerica
Watch Full Episode and More on Portable.TV
https://www.portable.tv/series/oncontact
Get exclusive content and watch full episodes now by downloading the Portable.TV app: https://bit.ly/DownloadPortable
Telegram: https://t.me/RTAmerica
Check out our other shows!
NO show does it like this. It’s TIME TO DO NEWS AGAIN with Rick Sanchez
News with Rick Sanchez: https://bit.ly/NRSSHOW
It’s her take on all things political and she presents ALL the angles: News.Views.Hughes with Scottie Nell Hughes, NVH: https://bit.ly/NVHSHOW
What’s your NEWS IQ? Give us 30 minutes, and we’ll take you across the globe! In Question with Manila Chan, IQ: https://bit.ly/IQ_SHOW
Steve Malzberg sinks his teeth into the slander, hypocrisy, bias and lies of MSM. MMM…Delicious! Eat The Press: http://bit.ly/EatThePress
Candid conversations with the most outspoken guy in Hollywood! Dennis Miller + One!
Dennis Miller Plus One: http://bit.ly/DennisMillerPlusOne
Let our TV time-machine bring you the week’s highlights and a closer look at the BIGGEST stories, Just Press Play: http://bit.ly/JustPressPlayShow
Author and social critic Chris Hedges conducts fascinating in-depth interviews with the fiercest critics of the establishment. Watch all episodes at https://bit.ly/2QIkQZg
Yep, it’s Gov. Jesse Ventura and you’re living in his WORLD! Come along for the ride.
The World According To Jesse: http://bit.ly/WATJSHOW
They’re watching you. Are you watching them? Are you WATCHING THE HAWKS?
Watching The Hawks: http://bit.ly/WTHSHOW
Follow the twists and turns of the global economy with Boom Bust, the one business show you can’t afford to miss. Boom Bust: http://bit.ly/BoomBustShow
Do you keep missing the forest for the trees? Let Holland Cooke show you the Big Picture, The Big Picture: http://bit.ly/TheBigPictureShow”
