Suzie Dawson vs the Banks

Dissident Kiwi Tech Disrupter and solo Mum from Birkdale, Suzie Dawson, is fighting KiwiBank from de-banking her because Banks have become a weapon against those the State actively seeks to disenfranchise.

It’s a fight for you, and it’s a fight for me.

Suzie Dawson doesn’t put up with getting bullied, here’s what happened in Iceland when the Banks attempted to de-bank her company there…

It is difficult to know which came first: the chicken or the egg.

In September of 2022, our USD$1 million seed funding was frozen without notice and withheld from us, by Islandsbanki, a major Icelandic bank. Talk Liberation’s data operations and hosting are in Iceland, because Iceland has special constitutional protections for freedom of information and freedom of speech, and data centres in Iceland are powered by 100% green, renewable geothermal and hydroelectric energy.

The bank invoked “anti-money laundering and counter terrorist-funding” legislation to justify the freezing, and then closed our accounts. But then, in a stunning reversal, they unfroze our funds – but without apology, explanation or compensation. Of course, the unfreezing of the funds completely exonerated us from wrongdoing. But it was too late – the damage was already done. Strategic plans that we had spent months working on had gone out the window – hiring couldn’t proceed, strategic partnerships had to be delayed. And our community suffered fear, uncertainty and doubt as time ticked on.

In March of 2023, we began preparing a legal case against the bank.

While we don’t question the rights of banks to freeze funds in certain circumstances, we absolutely are requiring that they be held to account for the abuses of process that occurred, the lack of transparency or customer care and for the damages and costs that were inflicted upon our business.

It was ultimately nine months before we received our investment funds back.

Our lawsuit is progressing with the help of Icelandic lawyers who won a USD$10 million settlement for WikiLeaks against a payment processor acting on instructions from Visa and Mastercard. With their help, we are currently suing Islandsbanki in Icelandic Courts for wrongfully withholding our investment funds. More info about that can be found here: https://badbanki.com

…Suzie doesn’t put up with bullying.

Suzie left NZ after intense scrutiny from Intelligence Agencies for her roles in the #GCSB Mass Surveillance protests, as well as being a co-creator of the viral hashtag #TPPANoWay, and an activist, journalist and/or promoter of other major events across the 2010s including #NZ4Gaza, Aotearoa is Not For Sale and the Moment of Truth event featuring Kim Dotcom, Glenn Greenwald, Edward Snowden and Julian Assange.

Suzie’s journalism and activism was shared many times by WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, among others. In 2018 she founded #Unity4J, a large international movement in support of the WikiLeaks publisher.

Suzie is on record as early as 2012 reporting on Thompson Clark Investigations Limited (TCIL) being involved in targeting activists – which she was very much vindicated about in the 2018 State Services Commission Report.

I worked directly with Suzie in 2012-2014 and she was tenacious and impactful. As well as being an activist, she also wrote articles highly critical of the entire Dirty Politics cabal – particularly Judith Collins and John Key. She feared with some justification of being on an ‘Enemies List of the State’ and felt following in the footsteps of other whistleblowers and at-risk activists was the smartest move for her and her young family. Ultimately, she sought, as Snowden had, asylum in Russia and remains there.

She was elected Leader in Exile of the Internet Party in 2017.

She now runs a successful global Internet Business, retains her citizenship and continues to use her KiwiBank account set up here and managed for her personal and business matters.

Until last month.

On March 20th, KiwiBank have contacted her and threatened to cut off her account, despite all the due diligence paperwork long since having been filled outand in order, despite her being a citizen, despite the Banking Ombudsman launching an official investigation in support of her complaints, despite fulfilling every requirement, despite everything, KiwiBank are threatening to de-bank her.

Why does any of this matter?

You can’t live in the modern world without a Bank Account. And once one bank puts a Scarlet Letter on your chest, it can be close to impossible to get another one.

De-banking someone is an extreme event that removes a persons ability to participate in the world, and seeing as KiwiBank is a State owned Bank, they have a greater obligation to Suzie because she’s a citizen.

Suzie says that KiwiBank have been aggressive with her since the National Party came to power and wonders if there has been some behind the scenes pressure to punish her for her previous activism against National’s mass surveillance legislation. Indeed, it emerges that Kiwibank had also tried to pull the same stunt against Suzie during the term of the prior National Government – well before Suzie ever went to Russia – but backed down when confronted by lawyers.

The Ombudsman has launched an investigation against KiwiBank, but they are still threatening to cut her Bank Accounts off this month.

It reeks of a political hit job on dissidents.

I had a similar experience occur against me when the Police breached my Civil Rights by illegally gaining my bank records because they believed I was the Dirty Politics hacker, RawShark!

I took them to the Human Rights Review Tribunal and the Police were forced to settle.

For activists prepared to speak truth to power there is always a price to pay, and if you land on a State Enemies list, you can pay that price in the most unique and damaging ways.

De-banking a Dissident Kiwi Tech Disrupter like Suzie is a means of strangling off activism and it weaponises a service like banking that should be accessible.

The complaint against KiwiBank from the Ombudsman continues.

TDB will follow the case and help launch a campaign from Kiwis detailing their problems with Banks in NZ.

 

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