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| John Pilger: Campaigning Australian journalist dies | John Pilger: Campaigning Australian journalist dies |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Campaigning Australian journalist and filmmaker John Pilger has died aged 84, his family has announced. | Campaigning Australian journalist and filmmaker John Pilger has died aged 84, his family has announced. |
| A statement released by his relatives on X, formerly Twitter, said he died on Saturday in London. | A statement released by his relatives on X, formerly Twitter, said he died on Saturday in London. |
| They described him as "simply the most amazing and loved dad, grandad and partner". | They described him as "simply the most amazing and loved dad, grandad and partner". |
| Throughout his career, Pilger was highly critical of Western foreign policy, as well as the treatment of Indigenous Australians. | Throughout his career, Pilger was highly critical of Western foreign policy, as well as the treatment of Indigenous Australians. |
| Pilger was born in Bondi, New South Wales in 1939, but was based in the United Kingdom since the 1960s. He worked for outlets including Reuters and the Daily Mirror. | Pilger was born in Bondi, New South Wales in 1939, but was based in the United Kingdom since the 1960s. He worked for outlets including Reuters and the Daily Mirror. |
| He was best known for his work as a foreign correspondent, including reporting on the Vietnam War, Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, and from the United States during the turmoil of the 1960s and 1970s. | He was best known for his work as a foreign correspondent, including reporting on the Vietnam War, Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, and from the United States during the turmoil of the 1960s and 1970s. |
| He was in the same room when Robert Kennedy was assassinated while running to be the Democratic nominee for the 1968 presidential election, according to his website. | |
| He made numerous documentaries, including the 1979 film Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia, about the country under Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge, as well as many about Australia and its treatment of Indigenous Australians. | |
| In recent years he was a high-profile supporter of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange - who is currently in Belmarsh Prison, fighting extradition to the US on charges related to the publication of thousands of classified documents in 2010 and 2011. | In recent years he was a high-profile supporter of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange - who is currently in Belmarsh Prison, fighting extradition to the US on charges related to the publication of thousands of classified documents in 2010 and 2011. |
| He has described Assange as a "truth teller who has committed no crime but revealed government crimes and lies on a vast scale". | |
| The official Wikileaks X account described Pilger as a "ferocious speaker of truth to power". | |
| He has also courted controversy with his comments on Russia. In a 2014 article for The Guardian, he wrote that President Vladimir Putin was "the only leader to condemn the rise of fascism in 21st-century Europe". | |
| He also told Russia's state-run international broadcaster, RT, that the Russian nerve agent attack in Salisbury in 2018 was "a carefully constructed drama in which the media plays a role". | |
| Pilger's death was confirmed to the BBC by his friends. | Pilger's death was confirmed to the BBC by his friends. |
| Related Topics | Related Topics |
| Journalism | Journalism |
| Australia | Australia |