We travelled to London yesterday afternoon in a very bitter wind and was just a little worried we might get caught in snow. It was that cold.
We walked up the Mall and was so pleased the Institute of Contemporary Arts was right there and we went into the warm again
We were early but gradually people joined us and Linda Reinstien arrived with Leigh Days Harminder Bains who had arranged for the film to shown here in the UK.
Harminder Bains, a partner at Leigh Day, whose father died of the asbestos-related cancer, Mesothelioma, is my Lawyer. Harminder lived in The Medway Towns where Ray and I lived all our lives until we retired to Whitstable. “This documentary comes at a crucial time and will aid in highlighting to the world the asbestos industry’s continued threat to life by exposing men, women and children to asbestos. The film shows children playing in the asbestos dump.”
Then so many friends arrived and amazing Sanjay Popat was there as well so proud to sit beside him to watch such a mind shattering film.
The UK premiere of an award-winning documentary called “Breathless” on the impact of asbestos in the developing world countries will take place on Saturday 27th October.
Breathless will be shown at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London.
Following the deaths of his father and many others from his village, filmmaker Daniel Lambo sets off on a passionate quest to find the truth about the deadly asbestos industry. His search takes him to the largest asbestos waste dump in India and unveils an cold-blooded industry still endangering the lives of workers and consumers around the world. In India, the asbestos industry continues to expand which will cause asbestos-related deaths for decades to come according to the film makers.
We all watched the film which was so hard-hitting and it made me realise that I do what I do because we Victims have been dealt a miscarriage of Justice – If we have had any Justice at all. Asbestos is killing more people than anything else in an industrial world. We can double the published figures by many organisations as so many are going unrecorded world wide in bid to hide the facts due to so much greed.
I was surprised they told the whole story of the Spies and Corruption well done !!!
Leigh Day acts for three prominent anti-asbestos campaigners suing Mayfair-based K2 Intelligence Ltd, its Executive Managing Director, Matteo Bigazzi, and Robert Moore.
Moore, engaged and paid by K2 to work on “Project Spring”, allegedly infiltrated and spied on the campaigners’ anti-asbestos network for the benefit of K2’s client. The network comprises eminent anti-asbestos campaigners whose activities, internationally, are focused on preventing the public health risks associated with asbestos and advancing the rights of asbestos victims.
It is alleged that Mr Moore claimed to be a journalist who wanted to make a film exposing the hazards of asbestos and to establish a “Stop Asbestos” charity, and that under this cover Moore embedded himself into the heart of the network, and from 2012 to 2016 gained access to an array of highly confidential and valuable information, which K2 passed to its client.
When the film finished I turned to Sanjay and went to talk but I couldn’t I would have burst into tears and Sanjay was the same. Here I was sitting next one of the Doctors that devout their life to helping us patients find treatments of this terrible disease. We just squeezed hands and our eyes said it all.
I was able to go on stage and thank Eric Jonckheere and Krishnendu Mukherjee as a representative of the Mesowarriors (The Victims ) for the film and for raising so much Awareness of our plight around the world. And Pray Linda gets her hard work recognised in the US and let’s have a world-wide ban. PLEASE !!
I’m so proud to be known as a Asbestos Activist why wouldn’t I -Asbestos Is trying to kill me for 10 years now I’m a Mesothelioma sufferer Please find the reason why I’m still here to fight the cause what is my DNA all about that Immunotherapy is working so well ???
We can help these people in India is to raise money to at least clean the area around this village so the children can play safe https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/indianesbestos/
Please listen to Erics story
It is a story of profit over people, but also of how ordinary people can stand up to corporations. ADAO had blogged recently such a great Interview.
Posted on October 1, 2018
This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Eric Jonckheere and Krishnendu Mukherjee (aka Tublu) who are the masterminds behind the moving documentary Breathless. In the interview, Eric and Tublu talked about their experience during the creation of this documentary, and the global importance of the film. They also discuss ways you can help, and give the audience a raw display of the dangers of asbestos and the need for a global ban.
Linda: Introduce yourself to our readers.
Eric: I am Eric Jonckheere, a Belgian victim of asbestos and president of Asbestos Belgium Victims Association (Belgium) My profession as an airline pilot and having suffered the loss of 4 close family members have made me an anti-asbestos world activist.
Tublu: My name is Krishnendu Mukherjee (aka Tublu). I am a barrister and Indian advocate based at Doughty Street Chambers in London, which is one of the largest collection of civil liberties and human rights lawyers in the world. I originally specialised in immigration law, but since 2010 I have been working on issues of occupational health, including asbestos-related diseases in India, filing compensation and remediation claims in India and abroad.
Linda: Tell our readers about the documentary Breathless
Eric: After the first ever asbestos court case won by Francoise Jonckheere, a housewife in Belgium, filmmaker Daniel Lambo, who’s father had worked at multinational Eternit. He started following our court case and soon found out Eternit had factories in countless countries.
Tublu: Breathless is a film about the export of the asbestos industry to the developing world, focussing on a Belgium company ETEX/Eternit, which operated factories in Belgium and in India. The film shows how the same company knowingly harmed a Belgian community in the 1970’s and then did exactly the same in India in 1990’s. There can be no excuse, no justification for doing that. For me, it is simply criminal to harm people in this way, especially when the company knew that the local people depended on the company for their livelihood. In the film Eric says: “We trusted Eternit, but they lied”.
Linda: Why is Breathless important to India and the world?
Eric: Tobacco, asbestos, or chemical multinationals have invested heavily in third world countries to avoid rules getting stricter in Europe and North America, where workers are less protected and deals can be made with local politicians. Once they leave, multinationals leave behind misery, sickness and pollution.
Tublu: People don’t know that the asbestos industry continues, despite being banned in 60 countries in the world. People in the west think its history, and people in countries like India, don’t know the dangers. So the first important aspect of the film is that it tells people of this fact. It also illustrates another important issue, the issue of corporate governance and accountability. Corporations which operate is poor legal systems, can bankrupt themselves, sell factories and withdraw from the countries to avoid liability, frequently leaving the affected people without a remedy. Corporations must behave like ordinary citizens ensuring that they remedy and compensate for their mistakes.
Linda: Share the details about the upcoming screening in London.
Tublu: The Institute of Contemporary Arts have kindly agreed to host a joint Human Rights Watch and Doughty Street Chambers screening on the 27th October 2018 at 16.15, followed by a Q&A with Baskut Tuncak, who is the UN Special Rapporteur for Toxics. I am excited about it and another screening on the 26th November at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva.
Linda: What can our readers to do help?
Eric: Legal action must be taken to make Eternit pay for the cleanup of the mess they left behind and pay to compensate for the medical costs. Initiating a court case against multinational Eternit in Brussels will be costly. As the Indian victims struggle to make ends meet, they do not have the means to seek Justice. Through a worldwide crowdfunding action, we hope to help these amazing resilient people.
Tublu: We want to have simultaneous actions and campaigns in Belgium and India for the victims of asbestos. The case in India will be primarily focussed on remediating the asbestos waste dump in Kymore (near Bhopal) which is the subject of the film. As the victims are not corporations this can only be funded by a crowdfunding campaign which we hope people will understand that need for and contribute to.
http://www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org/archives/49360
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