Kidnapped Australian gives up hope

More than a year ago now, there was an Australian citizen who was kidnapped by a terrorist organisation in the Philippines. The organisation demanded a ransom of $22,224 be paid by the Australian Government in order for the release of the man. So far, the Australian Government has refused to pay the terrorist organisation anything.

What boggles my mind is that we haven't sent our Special Air Service Regiment guys over there yet. We should have done that as soon as we gathered the required intelligence.

Hopefully some good comes out of this situation soon!

news.ninemsn.com.au...

reply to post by daaskapital

An Australian man kidnapped by suspected Muslim extremists in the Philippines more than a year ago has recorded a video message, saying he has given up hope of being released.

From your source. Yeah muslims like holding people for ransom, it goes back to those Dark Ages. It's part of their tradition/culture.

Know what happens to people who can't pay? Beheaded or buried alive.

Only 22K and we havent paid

Surely a news agency would have paid and got the rights to a story, or even his family could have paid. If they were poor Im sure they could have got a loan to pay against any money he gets from interviews.

If this guy gets out hell make a packet from telling his story.

It sonds like the Aussie gov has refused to pay and also stopped other people from doing so.

Not very reassuring as an Aussie citizen

Jeez, only $22K? Seems awfully cheap. If times were better I'd stroke a check out of the company unexpected expense account.

Even if it was sort of hard to explain to the IRS.

/yes, I bought an Australian citizen for that, he's our new grounds keeper

They wouldn't give 22 cents if they were /are not obliged to.
In this life we are alone.
30If others on ATS are prepared to give approx 30 cents per member to secure his release Ie the number of members is approx 750,000 I believe...we will get his release.
If ten thousand regulars here give less than four bucks each, we can get his release.
I will donate, lets see if others will, a test if you like.
You set up the Pay Pal account, endorsed by an Aussie Solicitor or JP and he has a chance.

reply to post by OrionsWitness


I'll kick in $500, I don't know if I can get any out of the business kitty, if we get a couple of contracts that are outstanding we might be able to tote the whole thing but I don't know if I can convince the other guys. Is this guy military? If so it's a shoo in, I could float it over on CP1 and milcom.

The problem with paying ransom demands, is there is no assurance that they will honor their end.

Plus the fact that you will be validating their methods, and encourage them to repeat it in the future.

Best send in the professionals, and free the man militaristically imo.

If they've given up on the guy, no one's going to pay.

Have you ever seen someone get their head cut off?

I've seen a video where an SAS operator got decapitated when they didn't pay, pretty sure you guys never saw it. I'd have paid all I could muster to keep that from happening again, I still see that in nightmares sometimes.

Whacked the guy right on video. Geez. He tried to tough it out until they started hacking. Whittled his head right off, not particularly fast or clean.

edit to add: I'd also pay for mind bleach. I think it's the only video in history that made me have to run for the loo.

Originally posted by IkNOwSTuff
Only 22K and we havent paid

Surely a news agency would have paid and got the rights to a story, or even his family could have paid. If they were poor Im sure they could have got a loan to pay against any money he gets from interviews.

If this guy gets out hell make a packet from telling his story.

It sonds like the Aussie gov has refused to pay and also stopped other people from doing so.

Not very reassuring as an Aussie citizen

It was around $22,000 initially. Who knows what the extremists want now.

I don't understand why the Australian Government fails to look after it's citizens....but hopefully they will do the best they can to secure the release of the prisoner.

Originally posted by Bedlam
reply to post by OrionsWitness

 

I'll kick in $500, I don't know if I can get any out of the business kitty, if we get a couple of contracts that are outstanding we might be able to tote the whole thing but I don't know if I can convince the other guys. Is this guy military? If so it's a shoo in, I could float it over on CP1 and milcom.

edit on 26-12-2012 by Bedlam because: (no reason given)

This sounds like a good idea, raising money to secure the prisoners release.

Yes, he is a former Australian soldier according to some articles.

I do not know the legality behind doing such a thing however...

Originally posted by BMorris
The problem with paying ransom demands, is there is no assurance that they will honor their end.

Plus the fact that you will be validating their methods, and encourage them to repeat it in the future.

Best send in the professionals, and free the man militaristically imo.

This seems like the most logical method, assuring the release of the prisoner while crippling the terrorist organisation (forcing them not to do it again).

Ok.. so you pay the 22k... What happens when they demand 40k? or 400k? or 4million?

Once Pandors box is opened its almost impossible to close it... The moment these groups know what countries / entites will pay a ransom only reinforces the behavior and places those people in even more danger.

While I sympathize with the need to pay to rbing the person home, I find myself more in agreement with Daaskapital (which is rare) about sending in special forces to take these groups out.

Originally posted by Xcathdra
Ok.. so you pay the 22k... What happens when they demand 40k? or 400k? or 4million?

Once Pandors box is opened its almost impossible to close it... The moment these groups know what countries / entites will pay a ransom only reinforces the behavior and places those people in even more danger.

While I sympathize with the need to pay to rbing the person home, I find myself more in agreement with Daaskapital (which is rare) about sending in special forces to take these groups out.

edit on 27-12-2012 by Xcathdra because: (no reason given)

Thanks for agreeing with me

I think it is one of the only answers which may both, bring the prisoner home and teach the terrorist organisation a lesson.

Here is the video if some are interested.

www.smh.com.au...