As
CNN Acosta
Cites Doctored
Video UN
Guterres
Roughed Up and
Bans Inner
City Press 127
Days
By Matthew
Russell Lee, CJR PFT NY
Post
UNITED NATIONS,
November 8 – Amid the outrage
at the Trump White House
suspending the credential and
access of CNN's Jim Acosta -
which we share, including if
video was doctored, see UN Nov
8 video here
- it is worth noting that UN
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres on 3 July 2018 has
critical Inner City Press
roughed up as it covered the
UN Budget Committee: UK
Independent with video here.
Then
Guterres had Inner City Press'
UN media accreditation, in
place for ten years, suspended
for weeks and weeks, with
Inner City Press having to
report on the UN from the
sidewalk. CJR
here.
On August
17 Guterres' Global
Communicator Alison Smale
issued an order
withdrawing Inner City Press'
accreditation, without any
hearing and no appeal. She
never answered UN Special
Rapporteur David Kaye's question
about an appeals process.
There is none, and the UN
unlike the US government is
immune from lawsuit. So it
reaches out, via spokes- /
hatchetman Stephane Dujarric,
to those who question UN
censorship, at least if they
are from Europe.
What does he tell
them?
To give
the UN its best chance, Inner
City Press on the morning of
November 8 emailed questions
to Guterres, his Deputy Amina
Mohammed, Alison Smale,
Dujarric and his Deputy Farhan
Haq including: "November 8-2:
I am informed that the SG's
spokesman has selectively
contacted those (from Europe)
raising questions about the UN
3 July 2018 Press ouster and
ban since, including stating
that unnamed UN staff members
or officials demand a lifetime
ban in order to feel “safe.”
Given the lack of due process,
please name which officials or
safe claim to feel unsafe in
order to justify censorship,
and the basis for your claims.
Also, again, answer UNSR David
Kaye's and others' question:
what is the appeals process
for a unilateral no due
process physical ouster and
banning by the UN of a
journalist?" But seven hour
later, no answer to any of the
questions.
So,
for now due to the UN's
constant threat of retaliation
even against those it has
unilaterally chosen to reach
out to with dirt that cannot
stand the light of day, this
is a composite:
Dujarric claims
that Inner City Press made
"diplomats" feel unsafe. But
he has yet to provide the name
of a single diplomat, other
than the false Morocco Mission
complaint in USG Alison
Smale's 17 August 2018 ban
letter.
Dujarric claims
that his staff didn't like
having the movement reported
on. This seems to refer to
Inner City Press, once it had
no office to use, working on a
bench in the Secretariat lobby
and noting when spokespeople
who refused to even
acknowledge formal questions
went out to lunch. This is not
a basis to ban a journalist
for life.
Dujarric goes low
and says that unnamed female
reporters didn't want to see
Inner City Press doing
stand-up Periscope broadcasts.
But the purpose of these --
filming on the fourth floor
was permitted without an
escort, Inner City Press was
told by Media Accreditation --
was to show EMPTY offices, for
example Morocco state media,
while Inner City Press had
nowhere to work. In fact,
Inner City Press went out of
its way not to speak with or
engage in any way with
Dujarric's coterie of pro UN
correspondents - that why it
left the building after work
through the garage, which was
later used against it.
There is
more, and we will have more.
But it is clear these are
pretexts. And even if Antonio
"The Censor" Guterres, who
believes it is impermissible
for a journalist to do a
critical stand up on the
public sidewalk across two
lanes of traffic from the $15
million publicly funded
mansion he (sometimes) lives
in believes these pretexts, an
interim solution was and is
clear.
Simply
allow Inner City Press in to
go to the noon briefing and
asked question - unless that
is what they are afraid of -
and to cover UNSC stakeouts
and Budget Committee meetings.
It is pathetic that a UN and
Secretary General that be
focused on "conflict
prevention" can't find a
solution other than violent
ouster and banning for a
critical journalist. We'll
have more on this.
Note that
the UN has gone further,
putting Inner City Press on a
non -public list
of people banned from all UN
premises for life. Guterres
even had his Security get Park
East Synagogue head of
security Shay Amir try
to oust Inner City Press from
his speech on tolerance on
October 31.
So while
the outrage at the White House
action on Acosta grows, as it
should (the Free
UN Coalition for Access
opposes it, like the arrest of
journalists in Cameroon),
why is the UN given a free
pass to rough up and ban a
journalist? Is there a right
or principle of free press or
isn't there? It has been
raised - watch this site.
***
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