Lady Gaga accept the paychecks of a tyrant

[DemeLarell 931]

Hey I'm still fairly new so idk how to check and see if it was already posted. I don't think it was lol but, I found this article after doing my daily gaga search (lol) and I agree with the message and intent of this article. What I don't agree with is the way they try to take (in my personal opinion) a jab at gaga. I feel like gaga might have not known about what is going on or maybe she did. They don't know her circumstances or intent. Maybe "Imagine" was chosen for this event to inspire justice with out being to in their face. On the other hand I feel like Gaga was used as a way to get people to read the article so that they are aware of the situation? What do you guys think?  Sorry for the long read.

WHEN AZERBAIJAN opened the first European Games in Baku on June 12, the extravagant ceremony included a surprise appearance by Lady Gaga, who performed a 10-minute set, for which she was reportedly paid $2 million.

The singer delivered a rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine" while playing a piano covered in flowers.

So let's "imagine" what Leyla Yunus and her husband, Arif, were thinking as they sat that evening in an Azeri prison, held for nearly a year in pretrail detention on trumped-up charges intended to muzzle them.

Ms. Yunus, 59, a prominent human rights activist, and her husband, 60, a historian, have been accused of tax evasion and treason. Both suffer from serious health problems that have gone untreated during their ordeal.

In Baku this week, their first trial began, on the tax evasion charges. On Monday, Mr. Yunus, who suffers from cardiovascular disease, lost consciousness in the courtroom. He was treated but his symptoms persisted, and on subsequent days he could hardly sit up.

Ms. Yunus suffers from diabetes and other maladies. At the end of the week, the public prosecutor, Farid Naghiyev, demanded 11 years in prison for Ms. Yunus and nine years for her husband. The trial is to recommence next week, when both will address the court.

[azerbaijan baku euro games] REUTERS/Stoyan NenovFireworks explode during the closing ceremony of the 1st European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, June 28 , 2015.

The trial is a travesty of justice and exposes the true intent of the prosecution — to silence these courageous voices. They should be released immediately. Nor are they the only ones to be treated so unjustly. President Ilham Aliyev has locked up about 100 political prisoners, including the gutsy investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova.

Emin Milli, who spent 16 months in Mr. Aliyev's prisons and went on to found Meydan TV, an independent online media platform in Berlin that publishes reports critical of the regime, says that the Azeri authorities recently arrested his brother-in-law and made "absurd and bogus accusations" of narcotics trafficking. "All this pressure had one purpose," Mr. Milli says, "to silence me personally and to silence Meydan TV . . . [a] small island of truth in the ocean of lies, repression and fear."

Mr. Aliyev behaves as if free speech and human rights are a trifle, and he bears primary responsibility for these abuses. But it is also worth asking: Who outside of Azerbaijan encourages such impunity? Who helps Mr. Aliyev get away with this?

In the West, there ought to be more concern for Azerbaijan's political prisoners among the Europeans who blithely participated in the June athletic games without so much as a glance outside the arena, and from the U.S. Congress members and staff who in 2013 made an expense-paid junket to Baku and were showered with gifts. And what about Lady Gaga, pop icon?

She performed while Mr. and Ms. Yunus, exponents of freedom and liberty, were languishing in prison, then accepted the oil-soaked paycheck of a tyrant. Just imagine.

Receipt:http://www.businessinsider.com/lady-gaga-and-members-of-congress-accept-the-paychecks-of-a-tyrant-2015-8

 

I also don't know if this is the right section 

[Red 87,339]

Oh honey, this topic was such a mess the day she performed  I don't know how I feel about this. She is a performer and she did what it took to make her message to reach a big audience but at the other hand, she did a poor job choosing where to do it. It feels like she wasn't very informed by the politics in Azerbaijan or else she wouldn't support it.

[PatrickMonster 5,016]

 

[bionic 37,675]

Ignorance isn't an excuse. Regardless, I'm pretty sure 90% of musicians have done this at some point in their careers (both knowingly and unknowingly).

 

See: Beyonce, Mariah etc 

[monsterdreams 1,529]

He be like 

B*tch better have my money 

[Zsolti 2,688]

too long

[Tropico 4,145]

I thought the title was being dramatic but they didn't lie. Gaga sis  

As an activist herself, she should've boycotted this had this been AFTER the trial.

 

But then again, the trail only began this week so she didn't know that these two were gonna be imprisoned. There was no way of her knowing so that changes everything.  

 

Also, the government are claiming that the couple are being jailed for tax evasion. Them being put in jail for one of them being an activist is our assumption (based on reasonable belief but still an assumption). So technically, she isn't accepting money from a guy who threw a couple in jail for being activists but is actually accepting money from a guy who threw a couple in jail for tax evasion states the record.

[DrewStevens 5,249]

Well if we start seeing things in that perspective then we are gonna have to judge everyone who performs somewhere with a corrupt government.

Every time an artist or band wants to perform in certain country they have to pay taxes to that country. So basically you're not only earning money from the country, you're also giving money to the government. 

Everyone gives and receives money from people who do horrible things. Even buying a T Shirt can contribute to someone like that.

[bionic 37,675]

Well if we start seeing things in that perspective then we are gonna have to judge everyone who performs somewhere with a corrupt government.

tbh we should   whataboutism doesn't help anybody

 

let me be the 1st to toss thrones at xtina

[DemeLarell 931]

too long

sorry. I tried to bold the main stuff I wanted to get get across to everyone lol 

[Emvee 7,073]

People receive paychecks from the United States government all the time, where's their slap on the wrist 

[DemeLarell 931]

Well if we start seeing things in that perspective then we are gonna have to judge everyone who performs somewhere with a corrupt government.

Every time an artist or band wants to perform in certain country they have to pay taxes to that country. So basically you're not only earning money from the country, you're also giving money to the government. 

Everyone gives and receives money from people who do horrible things. Even buying a T Shirt can contribute to someone like that.

I couldn't agree more. 

[VforVendetta 2,024]

You guys don't get it. She performed on a Sports event that is about everyone, not about Azerbaijan. She performed a song about peace, democracy, unity and love, she didn't support the government. The same way all the singers from the US should be much more ignorant on that matter since the US is kind of eliminating the Third World (and not only) every day.

Stop

[Chic 20,830]

No, let's not do anything productive about freedom and equality, let's b---h about the nuances of other people's perceived lack of support by taking advantage of meager technicalities surrounding it 

[JazzGa 14,348]

Gaga loves to perform in countries where the governments are corrupt and the people are opressed. She performs there NOT to support the regime, but to inspire and support the thousands in her audience who are struggling under the foot of it. Im sure when she performed in Russia and Saudi Arabia some rich and not so great dudes were profiting from her appearance, but she does it anyways to inspire her fans in the audience and to give the people just a few moments of safety and togetherness. Imagine is a liberal politically charged song about revolution and I'm sure she chose to sing it there for this exact reason.