Aussie accuses IDF of sexual assault + Going inside a $1b cocaine sting
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Hey, it's Chris Spear with you. Happy Monday and welcome to The Briefing. We're always hearing about the war on drugs, but behind one of Australia's biggest cocaine busts is a story of infighting that almost blew the entire thing up.
Aren't Australian police meant to be on the same side? So why have you got the most senior officers in one force actively trying to sabotage an operation that is stopping or had stopped 2.4 tonnes of cocaine coming to Australia, which is like half of our consumption at that time?
An investigation into Australia's obsession with cocaine and the fight to stop its trade is coming up in the second half of this episode. First though, let's get into the headlines with Sasha Barbagat on Monday the 25th of May.
Hey, Chris, and to you listening, a group of Australian activists will arrive back on home soil today after being released from detention in Israel. Eleven Aussies all up were on board the Global Samud flotilla bound for Gaza when they were intercepted by the IDF and taken into custody. They spent three days being held before they were deported to Turkey on Friday, with one member touching down at Melbourne Airport last night.
Members have alleged being mistreated by Israeli forces while they were in detention, while video posted by far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gavir showed activists bound and forced to kneel while being taunted and physically manhandled.
What allegations have Australian activists made against the IDF?
Gemma O'Toole, the woman who arrived home last night, told reporters what the video showed was a tenth of what they went through.
And then to think that that's what they do to predominantly white people. when they're being held, like, relatively to account. And there's so much attention being paid to that. My heart is just, like, broken for the Palestinian people.
Another Australian, Juliette Lamont, spoke to local reporters after arriving in Turkey, sharing this story.
They put so much water under me for an hour that I thought I was going to drown. I was sexually assaulted in this kind of torture chamber and five men were bashing me and smashing my face. And then it just continued for the whole time, whether that was the prison vote or whether that was where we were taken to Ashdod. It was a relentless and very targeted and very planned campaign of violence so that we wouldn't come back.
Now, we haven't heard from an Australian government official in the wake of these particular accusations. Foreign Minister Penny Wong did condemn the actions of Ben-Gavir and the Israeli authorities who mistreated activists after the footage posted by Ben-Gavir sparked global outrage. But I did have a poke around just trying to see if someone had spoken about this because these accusations are extremely serious.
Mm.
And yeah, I couldn't find any government spokesperson coming out to make a statement on these particular accusations. Many of the participants who were involved have described their imprisonment as the most violent experience of their lives. This coming directly from flotilla press releases. That's what they were telling us. So Sydney Airport this morning at 7.45, they'll hold a press conference and I'm sure we'll hear more.
To the US now, and Donald Trump is telling his peace negotiators to slow down on an Iran deal after yesterday saying one had been largely negotiated. In a Truth Social post, the US president says talks are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and that the relationship with Iran is becoming more professional and productive. But he says that both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes.
As to what's on the table, while we don't have all the details yet, it is understood any agreement would unfold in three stages. Sounds familiar to how we saw Gaza play out. So first, it would include a formal end to the so far three-month war. It would then be on to reopening the Strait of Hormuz. And finally, a 30-day window to negotiate bigger issues like Iran's nuclear program and the lifting of U.S. sanctions.
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