| Amid UN
Censorship, Quinn Emanuel Letter to UN 3
and UNCA 12 Is Received, But No Reply
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Video
Q&A
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
UN GATE, August 9
– Each day, the current United
Nations gets worse. Usually we
focus on Secretary General
Antonio Guterres moving from
concealing his links to UN
briber CEFC China Energy to
banning the Press that asks,
to failures on Sri Lanka,
Cameroon, Haiti, Honduras
(JOH) & Nigeria (Nnamdi
& Igboho).
But today
the UN loses a journalist of
integrity, Apostolis
Zoupaniotis,
retiring to
return to
Greece. Even
after the UN
in retaliation
threw Inner
City Press out
of its UN
office, Apostolis
offered the
use of his
cubicle.
By contrast
the insiders
of the UN
Correspondents
Association,
while
purporting to
praise this
journalist
among with UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric on
three week
vacation in
Greece, have
neither
responded to
or offered any
explanation
when a
lawyer's
letter - to
each UNCA
Executive
Committee
member - urged
them to have a
dialogue about
ending the
UN's banning
and censorship
of Inner City
Press.
On
August 9,
journalist
Benny Avni
asked Dujarric
about the
letter, video
here,
transcript:
Question:
My second
question is
the law firm
‑‑ what is it
called? ‑‑
Quinn Emanuel
wrote a letter
to the UN
asking about
reinstatement
of our
colleague
Matthew Lee
into the UN
press corps.
Do you have
any comment on
that?
Spokesman:
No. All I can
tell you is
that we've
received the
letter, and
I'm not aware
of any change
to his
status.
Question:
You're not
aware? I mean,
aren't you
part of the
group that
decides the
fate of... or
even the
negotiations...
The letter
calls for
renegotiation
[Cross
talk]
Spokesman:
I decide the
fate of no
one.
[Laughter]
Trust me,
trust me, my
authority is
extremely
limited,
whether at
home or at
work.
What I can
tell you and,
joking aside,
is that the
letter has
indeed been
received, and
I'm not aware
of any... and
there has been
no change in
Mr. Lee's
status.
Question:
Has the letter
been answered?
Do you plan to
answer
it?
Spokesman:
It's been
received.
Whether or not
it's been
answered, I
don't know
yet.
The
letter was
received by
the UN's
Melissa
Fleming, Maria
Luiza Vioti
and Tal Mekel
and to each
UNCA Executive
Board member,
to them citing
UNCA's stated
goals that it
has a charter
to supposedly
uphold.
What's
next? Since
the letter,
Inner City
Press has
published
exclusive
stories not
only from the
U.S. court
systems but
about the
United
Nations,
including its
agencies UNOPS,
UNFPA,
UNITAR
and UNESCO.
(Also credited
in AP,
Daily
Mail, and
Nigeria's
Sahara
Reporters,
amid answers
from the IMF.)
But
none of its
written
questions have
been answered
by the UN
Spokespeople,
and it remains
banned from
entry to the
UN's
briefings.
This must
end.
Having
asked for a
colleagial
discussion,
and while
still offering
it, things
must turn to
the law. UNCA
is a New York
State
non-profit
which has not
only not
abided by its
stated goals -
it has
tortiously
interfered
with a
journalist's
right to cover
the United
Nations.
The United
Nations itself
propounds
Article 19 of
the Universal
Declaration of
Human Rights,
and has other
legal duties
that must be
addressed by
national
courts,
particularly
in the UN's
host
country...
Those
in receipt of
the first,
friendly
letter:
melissa.fleming@un.org,
marialuiza.viotti@un.org,
mekel@un.org,
malu@un.org,
and
UNCA
Valeria
Robecco, ANSA
News Agency,
Nabil Abi
Saab,
Al-Araby,
Jianguo Ma,
Xinhua News
Agency, Edith
Lederer,
Associated,
Giampaolo
Pioli,
Quotidiano,
Linda Fasulo,
Ibtisam Azem,
Al-Araby
Al-Jadeed
Newspaper, Ali
Barada, France
24, Asharq
Al-Awsat;
Oscar Bolanos,
OMB News,
Sherwin
Bryce-Pease,
SABC South
Africa -
Alexander
Hassanein, The
Tokyo Shimbun,
Maria
Khrenova,
TASS, Philippe
Rater, Agence
France-Presse,
Kaori Yoshida,
Nikkei, Betul
Yuruk, Anadolu
Agency at
president@unca.com,
valeria.robecco@gmail.com,
nabisaab@gmail.com,
mjg222888@gmail.com,
elederer@ap.org,
giampioli@aol.com,
lindafasulo@gmail.com,
ibtisam.azem@alaraby.co.uk,
abarada@hotmail.com,
ombyvozque@gmail.com,
s.brycepease@gmail.com,
alexander@tokyoshimbun.us,
khrenova_m@tass.ru,
philippe.rater@afp.com,
kaori.yoshida@nex.nikkei.com,
byuruk@aa.com.tr
We'll have
more on this.
Watch this
site.
***
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