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Former New Zealand Minister Denounces Ukraine Hit List, Calls for Government Investigation

Aug. 1, 2022 (EIRNS)—A former New Zealand Minister, Matthew Robson, who was placed on the Ukraine/NATO hit list has responded with a powerful blast at the attack and a call for the New Zealand government to investigate. Robson is the former New Zealand Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs.

His full statement reads:

I have been placed on a blacklist by the Ukrainian government, in the company of many prominent scholars and well-known public figures.

I am quite flattered to be in the company of such an eminent list of people with widely varying opinions on the nature of the war in the Ukraine.

But all of them are engaged in the time-honored tradition of scholars and democratic societies of honest and open debate rather than the “group think” demanded by NATO governments.

The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, Section 14, provides the following guarantee:

Freedom of expression: Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which New Zealand and, I presume, the Ukraine are signatories guarantees the same. I am writing to the Prime Minister of New Zealand to ask her to take up with the government of the Ukraine this breach of my right, under both New Zealand and international law, to freely express my opinions, and my being on a list that endangers my safety.


First Ship in UN-Turkey Grain Deal Leaves Odessa with Corn for Lebanon

Aug. 1 (EIRNS)—This morning, the Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni, carrying 26,000 tons of corn (maize), left the Ukrainian port of Odessa destined for Tripoli, Lebanon. It is the first ship to leave Odessa under the auspices of the UN/Turkey-brokered deal signed with Ukraine and with Russia on July 22 by which Ukrainian grains will be shipped to world markets. Turkey’s Defense Ministry announced today’s departure, reporting that the Razoni will arrive in Istanbul on Aug. 2 where it will be inspected before passing through the Bosphorus Strait and heading for its destination. It was escorted out of Odessa by Ukrainian ships.

TASS reports that the joint grain export coordination center, based in Istanbul, will use satellites to monitor the passage of ships. According to the Associated Press, there are 16 more dry cargo ships in Odessa in line to ship out under the program. Today’s departure was welcomed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who said he hoped this would be first of many Ukrainian ships to leave the port carrying urgently needed grains to “bring much-needed stability and relief to global food security especially in the most fragile humanitarian contexts.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov welcomed this “very positive” development. “Let’s hope that all the agreements will be implemented from all sides and that the mechanism will work effectively,” TASS reported him as saying.