Mediastan

[ In May 2010 US army analyst

Private Manning was arrested

in Iraq on suspicion of having

passed state secrets to the

online publisher WikiLeaks. ]

[ Private Manning was accused of

leaking hundreds of thousands of

diplomatic and military documents. ]

[ Location:

Central Asia ]

A month or a year passes by and people kept saying:

you are in Guantanamo, Cuba,

...but I refused to believe them.

No, they said, you can take it for granted,

this is Guantanamo, Cuba.

Even the books we were given were stamped

"Guantanamo Library", but I still refused to believe it.

There was no way to check:

you are locked up in a cage,

...you see nothing but water:

how can you be sure where you are?

We weren't supposed to know anything,

or do anything.

Just sit quietly and not make

any trouble. That's all.

If you wish we could tell you why

the Americans kept you there, what they wanted from you.

Here is your secret file from Guantanamo,

it's supposed to be declassified in 2033...

This part is called -

"Reasons for Transfer to Guantanamo".

[ MEHRABON ODINAEV,

recently released from US Guantanamo Bay prison ]

To provide information on the following:

[ MEHRABON ODINAEV,

recently released from US Guantanamo Bay prison ]

To provide information

about Tadjik refugees in Afghanistan...

The refugees?

Yes, they asked about them.

And to provide information

about a school in Karachi...

- What could I tell them about it?

They go to Pakistan themselves...

These were the reasons why they decided

to take you to Guantanamo,

they wanted information on

refugees in Tadjikistan...

...and a school in Karachi.

That's absurd, 5 years for that!

-They could have asked then, on the spot...

They could have just asked me

while I was in Kandahar.

I mean, if they would at least have had

some serious questions, I'd understand...

...but the whole world knew

about the Tadjik refugees,

...there were a hundred thousand of them.

Maybe more...

Interrogation, huh!

I'm surprised that they didn't come up

with anything more serious.

I mean they could have at least asked you how

a Soviet tank is constructed

...but no they even wrote officially

that they were interested in a madrasah.

You must be angry with them?

I mean I would be pissed off if I had to spend

five years in Guantanamo for such bullshit.

All for nothing!

[ Location:

Norfolk,

England ]

[ JULIAN ASSANGE,

founder of WikiLeaks under house arrest ]

Take a look at this poor bastard.

Five years in Guantanamo...

...to find out about some refugees in Tadjikistan.

It's not just this detainee...

...there are revelations throughout Central Asia

about what's happening there.

An extreemly interesting region...

...between China and Russia.

This is the State Department's brain...

...the empire of the 21st century.

Bildt is already in correspondence with Karl Rove...

[ In 2011 a small group

of journalists made their

way through Central Asia

interviewing editors. ]

[ Their real goal:

to find local media outlets to publish

the secret US diplomatic cables. ]

[ Mediastan ]

Trascrizione lovvaH

...animeDB...

This is the summary of the cables from Tadjikistan.

The first cable that we have is a scene setter

for some important person who visited Tadjikistan:

[ Location:

Tadjikistan ]

for some important person who visited Tadjikistan:

Regardless of our efforts there is a limit to what Tadjikistan can offer.

That's to the United States.

It produces very little, it is poor

it's Government has minimal capacity.

The Tadjiks have some unrealistic ideas of what we can offer them:

mainly large infrastructure projects.

Including questionable power plants

Tunnels to Pakistan and bridges to nowhere.

There is some truth to the quip that Tadjikistan's real contribution

to our efforts in Afghanistan is to be stable and

allow unfettered overflight and transit to our forces

- which the Tadjiks have done unfailingly.

Ok, so we have another one which is also kind of fun.

It's about how the United States is trying to...

...make the local media more pro-American.

And how do they want to do that? Here goes:

In addition to overt public diplomacy

other complimentary efforts could be authorised, such as:

Aggressive media campaign through the Russian Media

as well as placements of articles in the major Russian Newspapers

read in central Asia

ensure that editors see the positive material from Russian media

and pay them if necessary to reprint it.

To reprint it?

Yes, they will publish positive material about the United States

in Gazeta.ru, Echo Moskvy and Interfax

and then they will pay the local editors

in Tadjikistan, so they re-print those articles.

Do they name some media

which they wanted to pay for re-printing?

It would be interesting to know who they regard as natural partners.

Well, we'll have to look at that in the full documents.

This is just a summary.

so, are we going through the tunnel or around the tunnel?

Through I think...

It doesn't look like it's finished.

I'm not sure this tunnel is finished.

I'm not sure either but there there are people here...

Hi! We are heading to Dushanbe,

is this the way?

- No.

When will the tunnel be opened?

No idea.

All the way back...

Maybe we should turn around...

I wonder if we would have been able to go through anyway?

Those guys were wearing masks

maybe the car would go through, but not us.

Hi! Could you tell us how to get to the capital, to Dushanbe?

Just go straight, and then take a left.

At the foot of the mountain?

Yes, as soon as the road ends, take a left up the mountain.

Thank you!

Good luck on your journey!

We're on our way to the Asia-Plus news agency

here in Tadjikistan.

That's our first destination.

Here is the team:

That's me, Johannes.

This is Dmitri, the Russian journalist from the magazine

that we have been working with.

This is Alina, who is also a journalist.

And Katya, a film-maker from Kazakhstan.

And this is Theo who will be filming our journey.

Look, we have to be careful...

Yes, I understand but...

Hello, my name is Marat Mamadshoev.

Who is responsible for being late?

Not us!

It's ok, I'm also always late.

Everywhere media observe

some red lines that can't be crossed.

What are your red lines?

Surely we have taboo as well.

But if we were to talk too frankly

about our taboo...

...what kind of taboo would that be?

[ MARAT MAMADSHOEV,

Editor in Chief "Asia-Plus" ]

This interview is only one of the reasons why we are here.

...and thank you a lot for that.

But there is another reason why

we are here, that may interest you...

...it has to do with WikiLeaks.

I worked with the Russian cables

Johannes worked with the Swedish material.

There are also cables on Tadjikistan.

We propose to give you free access to the secret cables.

What you choose to publish, how you publish,

if you publish in your newspaper is entirely up to you.

But we demand that you redact the names

of those who need to be protected.

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