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By Matthew Russell Lee, CJR Letter PFT Q&A, NY Post

UN GATE, Jan 31 – Inner City Press on 5 July 2018 was banned from entering the UN, the day after it filed a criminal complaint against UN Security for physically removing it from covering the meeting about the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' $6.7 billion peacekeeping budget, as witnessed and essentially cheered on by senior UN official Christian Saunders, tearing its reporter's shirt, painfully and intentionally twisting his arm and slamming shut and damaging his laptop. On August 17, Guterres' Department of Global Communication issued a letter banning Inner City Press from the UN - for life. With no due process.  

Guterres has put the UN in the US Press Freedom Tracker, here. The head of the UN Department of Global Communications said, again, that the UN would answer Press questions to the Spokesman Stephane Dujarric and his Office; Dujarric said the same on camera. On January 31 before another lame Q&A by  Stephane "French Whine" Dujarric complete with blathering by state media for example a retiree from Pakistan, and another from a wire, after the July 26 noon briefing had no questions at all, video here, Inner City Press submitted 1528 questions, including why it continues to be lawlessly banned from entering to ask questions in person: "There are more than 1000+ questions UNanswered. No answers at all during the four days of the US v Ho trial showing corruption in the UN says it all; no answers during the Honduras narco-president trial while UN bragged about taking his money, nor on OneCoin. This ban is just censorship - and Inner City Press must be allowed back into the noon briefing to ask its questions in person and follow up on them.

January 31-1: On the UN and China, please immediately respond to "The UN also secretly provides China with advance information on whether specific dissidents will attend meetings, allowing China to target reprisals against their families. The UN defends in court its "right" to hand names of dissidents (including US and EU nationals) to China...

January 31-2: On Myanmar, what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres and USG Fleming on that Rakhine State officials ordered the closing of a camp for internally displaced people in Myebon township because it was built without their permission, a senior state official said. 

January 31-3: Please immediately confirm that and comment on that after the granting of a UNSC website contract to her husband, Kyoko "Kiki" Shiotani will today take over the UN Security Council Affairs Division's Security Council Practices and Charter Research Branch; respond to staff complaint that the post has been held for months since the departure of Yvette Blanco in May 2019, after a Yvette has been bullied and forced out by Hasmik. The latter has kept the post for her friend Kiki whom DiCarlo did not want in her office  

January 31-4: Please immediately state, as you refused on Jan 30, what OIOS and the SG have done on the referenced complaint to OIOS and now in connection with a 13 November, 11:09AM, email of ASG David Kanja.  Swanson orchestrated a situation whereby the post at issue was abolished for lack of funding, which was clearly done to get rid of her. Then, when ordered by a UNDT judge to provide evidence that would justify the decision – he did not comply with the order. In the real world, including the SDNY, judges would not tolerate this and there would be calls for the guy to resign. This is the SG's UN where the very opposite happens….  The question that staff members are asking is simple; “Can I trust OIOS?” On deadline. 

January 31-5: On corruption and Angola, on which you refused to answer yesterday, what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres on the Luanda Leaks exposure of Isabel dos Santos of Angola, and as Inner City Press has repeatedly asked, what are his comments and action on the repeated retweeting of Isabel dos Santos' denials by his close staffer Aguinaldo Baptista? After, for example, exposure of the corrupt urban development project near Luanda for which some 3,000 families were driven from their homes to make way for the development? And now after The Portuguese bank EuroBic has announced it will end its business relationship with Africa's richest woman, Isabel dos Santos. 

January 31-6: Immediately describe the role of Angola and the dos Santos family in the campaign of Antonio Guterres ot become UNSG. 

January 31-7: On UN sexual exploitation and abuse - alleged - as Inner City press asked in writing in 2019 without response, this is a request that you immediately provide the if-asked information for the report of UN rape in Darfur data dumped to Conduct and Discipline website on the morning of January 17 and the "if asked" information about the two new cases of sexual exploitation in CAR by Cameroonian UN "Police" that were put online after 5 pm on December 30 (a day when you refused to answer 7 questions including on previous UN rapes), and the (Dec 19) rape case by a UN Volunteer in DRC in June 2019 - what nationality? What's been done for the victim(s)? and the Dec 9 sex abuse cases in CAR by Gabon, DRC and Morocco UN "peacekeepers, and the Dec g  about the Office of the Special Envoy for the Sahel, and the two more November 26, 3 pm cases of sexual exploitation in CAR by Cameroon troops in September 2019 (!)

January 31-8: On SG Guterres' Town Hall in Geneva, on which you refused Inner City Press' Dec 20 question, what is your summary of what SG Guterres said given that Inner City Press has now publishing more of it? Please explain SG Guterres' statement that interns should not (ever) be paid, and how this is not create unfair advantage for the most affluent?

January 31-9: As previously and repeated asked, where has UNSG Antonio Guterres been for the past week(s), and how much public money has he spent? 

January 31-10: On press freedom and Burundi, what are the comments and actions if any of SG Guterres and separately USG Melissa Fleming on that a court in Burundi convicted four Iwacu journalists of attempting to undermine state security, fined them each $530, and sentenced them to two years and six months in prison

September 4-8: Immediately explain the single lawless line from MALU on 30 August 2019: "Greetings Matthew Lee from Inner City Press, Your media accreditation request, with reference no: M5413398, has been declined for the following reason: Media accreditation was withdrawn on 17 August 2018." This is a formal request for the UN's explanation of grounds for this denial. And a demand for answer to these questions, which MALU has declined to answer:  Who made the decision?  Where is the list of those accredited by [MALU]?  What and to whom is the process of appeal? 

September 3-19: On press freedom and Cameroon, on which you refused to answer on August 13 despite saying the office was staffed and answering, now more specific: what is the SG's comment and action if any, post golden statue, to that Paul Atanga Nji, territorial administration minister, says Cameroon's journalists are becoming highly unpatriotic.  "They have one main objective, just to sabotage government action, to promote secessionist tendencies," said Nji. "I urge them to be responsible. Those who do not want to respect the laws will be booked as being recalcitrant and will be treated as such"... Now that the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled against public officials blocking critics on Twitter even if the official claims their account is private [and AOC unblocking Dov Hikind], what is the justification for UNSG Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, with the UN flag in his profile photo and Guterres promoting content, blocking Inner City Press? What is SG Guterres' response / reaction to UN DSS and Guterres' actions on Inner City Press being listed in the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, here.  In the UN, what has the accountability been for Lt Ronald E. Dobbins and those those refused on camera to give their names? What is each of yours - particularly the SG's - response to the letter written and sent by Burundi activist Manisha Lievin? Immediately explain the single lawless line from MALU on 30 August 2019: "Greetings Matthew Lee from Inner City Press, Your media accreditation request, with reference no: M5413398, has been declined for the following reason: Media accreditation was withdrawn on 17 August 2018." This is a formal request for the UN's explanation of grounds for this denied, and since SGcentral, the SG's chief of staff and Deputy SG and USG Fleming have not even responded... AGAIN, immediately explain how it is legitimate to ban from enter into the UN the media that has been asking about these and other questions, with no hearing or appeal - and respond that Inner City Press on August 24 applied like 100s or 1000s of others to cover the upcoming UNGA high level week, including now formally offering to answer any quesions the UN / DSS might have, having been vetted and accredited elsewhere since, as both USG DSS Michaud and MALU have formally been timely informed -- and how it is possible that a media that closely covers and uncovers the UN could be denied entry, other than (SG) censorship.

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