Bonum Certa Men Certa

Trial by IRC, judgments, Edward Brocklesby, Norbert Preining & Debian expelled due process

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jul 04, 2024

Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock.

In a previous blog, I looked at how it would be very convenient for a Debian infiltrator to use an English name that can be spelled in at least two different ways. Brocklesby, Brockelsby or even a third permutation, Brocklsby, would frustrate attempts to join the dots after such a person has vanished again.

When the Romanian dictatorship was in its final days, the dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena Ceaușescu gave orders that anybody responsible for critical commentary on their leadership should be shot on sight. There were no arrests, no trials and no due process. Nobody got a judgment. They got a bullet instead.

Molly de Blanc and the Debian "Community Team" did exactly the same thing in 2018 when they started assassinating Debian Developers without any due process. Coincidentally, the day they gave the order to kill off Dr Norbert Preining, 17 December 2018, was the anniversary of the order from the Romanian dictator.

On Sunday 17 December members of Securitate broke into the reformed church, beat Reverend László Tőekés and took him into custody. During the night, troops and armoured personnel carriers had been deployed all over Timişoara. The army and the security police were undertaking a show of force in an attempt to intimidate the population.

Yet in 2000, when there were reports that Edward Brocklesby was involved in hacking, they didn't immediately execute him, they set up a trial by IRC.

The SSH2 maintainer was accused of hacking and he got a trial but the LaTeX package maintainer, Dr Preining, made a mistake with a pronoun in a foreign language and he did not get any due process. He just got summary execution on the whim of the leader's girlfriend. People are calling it Mollamby, as in Chris Lamb (lamby) and Molly de Blanc.

People have been asking me for the IRC logs of this trial and here they are. I will serialize them over multiple blog posts so that people can digest them carefully.

Why didn't Dr Norbert Preining receive a trial too? After decades of work, all he got was a bullet.

[04/22/00 @ 22:45:05] *** is- (ejb@ppp-1-135.cvx6.telinco.net) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:06] *** isildur (ljb@debianos.com) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:08] *** jim (jim@earth.laney.edu) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:08] * FransUrbo is Turbo Fredriksson <turbo@debian.org>
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:09] *** tausq (randolph@dslpppc160.phnx.uswest.net) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:09] <drow> Daniel Jacobowitz, dan@debian.org, Debian and terrabox admin
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:10] *** netgod (johnie@the.mighty.SDSL.of.netgod.net) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:12] <irq> Dan Parsons, nyip.net
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:12] *** bmsparc (bm@chk1d18.dial.uniserve.ca) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:14] *** Joy (joy@pork.gkvk.hr) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:17] <rcw-> Robert Woodcock <rcw@debian.org>
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:18] *** wiggy (wichert@wichert.cistron.nl) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:19] <tausq> Randolph Chung, tausq@debian.org
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:20] <james> James Troup <troup@debian.org> - Debian NM, DSA, Keyring
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:23] <isildur> Leon Breedt <ljb@debian.org>
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:24] *** sgore (sgore@adsl-208-191-169-117.dsl.hstntx.swbell.net) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:25] * Joy is Josip Rodin <joy@debian.org>
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:25] <joeyh> Joey Hess, joeyh@debian.org, Debian developer
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:30] *** cerb (erick@cerb.kinnee.net) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:30] *** icarus (oneiros@milton.openprojects.net) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:32] <netgod> Johnie Ingram <johnie@openprojects.net>
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:34] *** marcel (marcel@c18758247.telekabel.chello.nl) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:35] *** Klatu (rsahlen@varley.openprojects.net) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:35] <bmsparc> bob mutch rmutch@uniserve.com consultant
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:36] <jim> Jim Lynch, jwl@debian.org
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:36] *** Culus (jgg@async6-3.remote.ualberta.ca) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:40] >* is- is Edward Brocklesby <ejb@incest.uklinux.net>, suspended debian developer, and former OPN ircop
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:42] <broonie> Mark Brown, broonie@tardis.ed.ac.uk, Debian developer
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:43] *** compuboy (compuboy@host62-6-27-190.btinternet.com) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:45] * icarus justin scott <justin@milton.openprojects.net>
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:45] <wiggy> Wichert Akkerman <wakkerma@debian.org> - Debian DPL, runs verne.opn
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:48] * cerb is Erick Kinnee <cerb@debian.org> Debian developer
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:50] <lilo> everyone please announce name, email address, affiliation
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:50] * marcel is marcel harkema <marcel@debian.org> debian developer
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:50] * sgore is Stephen Gore <sgore@debian.org>, Debian Developer
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:56] <lilo> Culus: you missed that
[04/22/00 @ 22:45:57] <Klatu> Rich Sahlender klatu@openprojects.net, rsahlen@debian.org
[04/22/00 @ 22:46:10] <lilo> Rob Levin, lilo@openprojects.net, Open Projects head of operations
[04/22/00 @ 22:46:17] <jim> also, I speak/listen as one who has been haning with #linpeople for a long time
[04/22/00 @ 22:46:18] *** Knghtbrd (knghtbrd@adsl-63-197-120-111.dsl.sktn01.pacbell.net) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:46:18] <lilo> compuboy?
[04/22/00 @ 22:46:20] * compuboy is Kenny Millington <kenny@kennynet.co.uk>
[04/22/00 @ 22:46:20] <Culus> Jason Gunthorpe <jgg@debian.org> Debian Administration
[04/22/00 @ 22:46:20] <drow> If there is anything specific someone wants to ask me, do it very soon - I need to leave.
[04/22/00 @ 22:46:46] <Knghtbrd> Joseph Carter <knghtbrd@debian.org>, Debian developer with a big mouth  =p
[04/22/00 @ 22:46:59] <lilo> icarus?  missed you
[04/22/00 @ 22:47:15] <icarus> no you didn't. * icarus justin scott <justin@milton.openprojects.net>
[04/22/00 @ 22:47:15] <cerb> he's the first one i see
[04/22/00 @ 22:47:30] <cerb> don't see FransUrbo
[04/22/00 @ 22:47:39] <lilo> going through the list of people to see if everyone announced
[04/22/00 @ 22:47:40] <cerb> and broonie
[04/22/00 @ 22:47:43] <ClintHOME> * FransUrbo is Turbo Fredriksson <turbo@debian.org>
[04/22/00 @ 22:47:47] * FransUrbo is Turbo Fredriksson <turbo@debian.org>, Debian/Roxen maintainer
[04/22/00 @ 22:47:51] <broonie> again: Mark Brown, broonie@tardis.ed.ac.uk, Debian developer
[04/22/00 @ 22:48:13] *** is- has changed topic to "Please annouce your name, email address and position (debian developer etc) when entering the channel"
[04/22/00 @ 22:48:22] *** jim (jim@earth.laney.edu) has quit IRC (Read error to jim[earth.laney.edu]: EOF from client)
[04/22/00 @ 22:48:35] >(is-) lilo, can you quickly add my current IP to my nickserv access list please?
[04/22/00 @ 22:48:37] *** jim (jim@earth.laney.edu) has joined channel
[04/22/00 @ 22:48:43] <jim> erp!
[04/22/00 @ 22:48:48] <lilo> did we get joeyh, james
[04/22/00 @ 22:48:52] <joeyh> yes
[04/22/00 @ 22:48:55] <irq> i saw joeyh
[04/22/00 @ 22:48:56] <jim> james, yes
[04/22/00 @ 22:48:58] <irq> joe hess
[04/22/00 @ 22:49:03] <lilo> okay, good
[04/22/00 @ 22:49:05] <lilo> is: change your nick
[04/22/00 @ 22:49:08] <lilo> is-- is fine
[04/22/00 @ 22:49:15] <lilo> or whatever
[04/22/00 @ 22:49:24] >(is-) um, ok.
[04/22/00 @ 22:49:42] <lilo> okay, I'm going to briefly describe the problem I saw, and anyone who has additional details on admin staff can chime in

... snip ...

Courtroom sketches of Julian Assange

There don't seem to be any pictures of Edward J Brocklesby so here are some sketches of Julian Assange created by courtroom sketch artists.

Julian Assange, Edward Brocklesby, Debian, trial, IRC, hacking

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