| UN
Friends Late on Belarus' Pratasevich Grab
& Hypocrites Inactive on SG Guterres'
Press Ban
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Video Song
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
UN GATE, June 8 –
Right after dissident blogger
Pratasevich was grabbed off a
Ryan Air flight forced to land
in Belarus, many including the
US spoke.
But for more than
a full day, nothing from
Antonio Guterres, the UN
Secretary General who rarely
takes questions and even had
the Press which asked him
about the mass killings in
Cameroon thrown
out of the UN. Alert here;
new Belarus Blues song here.
Now late and
hypocritical, given that they
have done nothing about
Guterres banning
Inner City Press now for
1072 days amid its questions,
this: "The co-chairs of the
United Nations Group of
Friends for the Protection of
Journalists – Greece, France
and Lithuania - and the
undersigned Members of the
Group of Friends strongly
condemn the forced landing of
a Ryanair flight in Minsk,
Belarus, on May 23, 2021,
prompted by Belarusian
authorities in order to arrest
and detain independent
journalist Raman Pratasevich
and his companion, Sofia
Sapega...
Media freedom is
an essential part of
democratic societies. States
should ensure a free, safe and
enabling environment for
journalists to perform their
work independently and without
interference. Arbitrary
detentions are obstructing the
task of journalism in building
inclusive societies and
democracies, helping shape an
informed public debate and
fostering intercultural
dialogue, peace and good
governance. There can be no
Press Freedom when there is
fear. [See see this
and this
at UN.]
Signed,
Co-chairs of the UN Group of
Friends for the Protection of
Journalists, Ambassadors,
Permanent Representatives of
Greece, France and
Lithuania
Annex:
Co-signatories members of the
Group of Friends (in
alphabetical order): Austria,
Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa
Rica, Ghana, Latvia, Republic
of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland,
the UK, USA, Uruguay."
On May 28,
Guterres' UN Press Briefing
Room hosted a press
conference, from which Inner
City Press was banned, in
which the grabbing of
Pratasevich was called fake
news, in response to questions
from state media.
Inner City
Press has asked then incoming
UNSC president for June Estonia
for access, to which there has
been no response (ACT is just
an act) - and it and the Free
UN Coalition for Access
(FUNCA) will report on all
results.
***
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