In
Saudi, Ban
Didn't Raise
Flogged
Blogger, But
Prince Charles
Did
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 10 --
At the UN,
transparency
and access are
in decline,
due to
collusion. On
February 6,
Inner City
Press for the
Free
UN Coalition
for Accessasked,
video
here,
asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric
whether in the
trip to Saudi
Arabia Ban had
announced only
to the UN's
Censorship
Alliance Ban
would raise
the case of
flogged
blogger Raif
Badawi.
Dujarric said
wait and see,
but when Ban
spoke at the
end he said no
individual
cases were
raised; he did
not mention
freedom of
expression.
By
contrast, even
the UK's
Prince Charles
did
raise Badawi's
case to King
Salman.
Ban's excuse
was that,
after flying
all the way to
Saudi Arabia,
there was no
time to raise
individual
cases. Prince
Charles had
more time?
Inner
City Press /
FUNCA: You
said about the
Secretary-General
and freedom of
expression.
So I wanted to
ask you, on
this upcoming
trip beginning
today to Saudi
Arabia, is the
situation of
the blogger,
Raif Badawi,
who’s been in
prison and
scheduled to
be flogged, is
that something
that the
Secretary-General
intends to
bring
up? I
wanted to ask
because I saw
the
announcement
was made in a
way where it
was sort of,
things then
went off the
record.
It seems you
were there; I
saw what was
put out by
your
office.
Was this
answered in
that
context?
If so, was
that asked
even in that
context?
And finally,
who’s paying
for the travel
on this
trip? Is
he flying
commercial,
paid by the
UN? Or
is he--
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric:
He’s flying
commercial,
paid by the
United
Nations.
The issue of
freedom of the
press is
something the
Secretary-General
routinely
raises, and I
think we will
give you a
readout of the
meeting with
His Majesty
after it
happens and
the
Secretary-General
also has a
press
encounter
scheduled
following his
encounter with
the King, and
those remarks
will be made
public.
But you know,
the issue of
freedom of
expression and
freedom of the
press is
raised in many
different
contexts and
many different
countries.
On
February 5 the
UN's deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq
said
"You might be
aware of this
already, but I
have a trip
announcement
for you; I
believe the
Secretary-General
mentioned this
to some of you
yesterday.
The
Secretary-General
will depart
for Riyadh,
Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia,
on Friday, 6
February, to
convey his
condolences to
the people of
Saudi Arabia,
who had
recently lost
their leader,
King Abdullah
bin Abdulaziz
al-Saud.
During his
two-day stay
in Saudi
Arabia, the
Secretary-General
will also meet
with country’s
new leader,
King Salman
bin Abdulaziz
al-Saud."
The
"some of you"
referred to
the Executive
Committee of
the UN
Correspondents
Association,
which released
no transcript
of the
spoon-feeding
session,
merely
tweeting from
the session,
at 1:42 pm,
"#UNSG Ban
tells UNCA
committee he
will travel to
#SaudiArabia
on Friday to
meet King
Salman to talk
Mideast
challenges,
then on to
#UAE."
No
mention for
example of
Saudi flogged
blogger Raif
Badawi, from
an
organization
which claims
to care about
freedom of the
press -
actually, it
doesn't -- now
any other
questions. A
mere
pass-through.
, 
