Inner City Press





In Other Media-eg New Statesman, AJE, FP, Georgia, NYTAzerbaijan, CSM Click here to contact us     .



These reports are usually available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis
,



Share |   

Follow on TWITTER

Home -

These reports are usually available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis

CONTRIBUTE

Books

RSS

(FP Twitterati 100, 2013)

ICP on YouTube

More: InnerCityPro

BloggingHeads.tv
Sept 24, 2013

UN: Sri Lanka

VoA: NYCLU

FOIA Finds  

Google, Asked at UN About Censorship, Moved to Censor the Questioner, Sources Say, Blaming UN - Update - Editorial

Support this work by buying this book
Belt and Roadkill
(and paperback)

Click on cover for secure site orders

also includes "Toxic Credit in the Global Inner City"
 

 

 


Community
Reinvestment

Bank Beat

Freedom of Information
 

How to Contact Us



UN Had Viktor Bout Fly Belgians To Somalia, Silent on Trade As On Bali Bomber Umar Patek

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell Book
Books - Guardian - NY Mag - Brutal Kangaroo

UN Gate, August 20 – The United Nations used for now imprisoned arms trafficker Viktor Bout to move Pakistani "peacekeeper" to East Timor, and Belgians to Somalia where they urinated on corpses, is now silent on the impending trade of Bout for Brittney Griner.

On the morning of August 5, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, in writing, "What are the comments and action if any of the offered and impending trade of arms trafficker Viktor Bout, given his role in West Africa, Colombia and elsewhere for which he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in SDNY court?"  

Two full weeks later, nothing, despite an on-camera promise to answer Inner City Press' written questions after having it thrown out of and banned from the UN, by Melissa Fleming, the censorship chief of SG Antonio Guterres.  

Nor has the UN or Guterres has anything to say about the impending early release of Bali bomber Umar Patek. Despite many canned statements about accountability, Guterres is a hypocrite as well as a censor.

His UN is totally corrupt, as are some others - watch this site.

One thing about the Wikileaks data-dumps was that they often resurfaced, made relevant again by current events.

  As Kurt Wheelock began digging through the more than 300 references to Wikileaks in US Federal court cases, he came across the State Department memo about bribes paid to witnesses against Viktor Bout in Thailand.  

  Now in 2022 there was talk of Bout being traded by the Administration for WNBA player Brittney Griner.  

The leaked memo: "Classified By: Ambassador Eric G. John, reason: 1.4 (b) and (d).    1. (S) Summary: The Ambassador on March 4 pressed Thai Deputy  Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban to ensure retraction or  rebuttal of false court testimony in the extradition  proceedings of Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, which  resume March 6.  Suthep said Prime Minister Abhisit had  previously discussed the matter with him, and he would  investigate and take appropriate action."

   Bout was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, before then-Judge Shira A. Scheindlin.

  She shot down Bout's argument as being "based on two 'secret United States State Department cables which [were] leaked to Wikileaks' that reveal 'a multi-pronged effort to seek a successful reversal [of the Thai lower court’s denial of extradition] during the appeals process.' However, far from any impropriety, the cables merely demonstrate the State Department’s view that Bout was “a high priority for the United States," etc.

   Now, with the SDNY prosecutors raring to ask for a lengthy sentence for Joshua Schulte, those above them were said to mull freeing the merchant of death.

  They'd made a movie about Bout, with Nicholas Cage. But no movie, barely a podcast, about Joshua Schulte.

  There was, however, as of July 16 a blues, here. And as of July 13, a booklet - now with eight typos fixed (better late than never). 

   One thing not corrected but amplified: while some set a strangely high standard for "who is a whistleblower," not unlike "who is a journalist," Kurt with experience as both thought: having covered the United Nations, showing abuses of power and immunity with the help of staff whistleblowers who can not only be fired but also deported from NY if they are found out, conclude a person doesn't need to confess in order to be whistleblower.

  Some were comfortably setting a requirment of voluntary martyrdom. But some martyrdom's are unintentional, ineffable. The search continued.

 This might be a new project, a follow-up to Brutal Kangaroo.

Brutal Bangaroo book
Order here. Watch this site.

 ***

Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.

Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA

Mail: Box 20047, Dag Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017

Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540



Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.

 Copyright 2006-2022 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com