Video: David Coombs and Alexa O’Brien at the Sydney Opera House

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Ideas at the House: Panel – The War on Whistleblowers and Their Publishers

On September 16th, the Sydney Opera House hosted a panel discussion on “The War on Whistleblowers and Their Publishers,” as part of their “Ideas at the House” series.

The panel featured Pvt. Chelsea Manning’s lawyer David Coombs, Guardian writer Glenn Greenwald, independent journalist Alexa O’Brien, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and Australian commentator Robert Manne and was moderated by Bernard Keane of Crikey.

The panelists discussed at length the US surveillance state, the conviction of Pvt. Chelsea Manning under the Espionage Act, and the persecution of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange.

David Coombs and Alexa O’Brien gave in-depth perspectives on Pvt. Manning’s court case and the government’s desperate attempts to shroud it with secrecy by limiting access to journalists and refusing to publicize court records or allow recordings of the legal proceedings.

To view the whole discussion, please click here.