By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 10 -- The
Sri Lankan
government
media is
having a field
day with the proceeding
against Inner
City Press by
the UN
Correspondents
Association
and its president
Giampaolo
Piolo. The
pro government
Daily
Mirror reports
that
"Mr.
Lee
is on trial
not for his
attacks on Sri
Lanka but for
accusing the
UNCA President
Giampaolo
Pioli of
'accepting
rent money'
[from] Dr.
Palitha
Kohona, who is
Sri
Lanka’s
Permanent
Representative
at the UN when
Dr. Kohona was
Chief of the
UN Treaty
Section some
eight years
ago. He has
also
accused Mr.
Pioli of
arranging Dr.
Kohona and his
team to screen
the
government's
'Lies Agreed
Upon' film at
the UN under
UNCA auspices
without asking
other UNCA
executive
board members
about the
screening."
There
are two facts
that Inner
City Press
reported, and
that Pioli and
now
his big
media Greek
chorus
demanded be
retracted and
taken off the
internet, or
else Inner
City Press
would be
expelled.
But these were
and are
legitimate
facts to
report. The Daily
Mirror
continues
"Mr.
Pioli
admitted
accepting rent
from Dr.
Kohona but
denied the
accusation he
was biased in
favour of Sri
Lanka and
while Mr.
Pioli
demanded the
article be
removed from
Lee’s blog, he
had refused
calling it
censorship. If
Mr. Lee is
impeached, he
would be the
first
UNCA
journalist to
be expelled
from the
association.
He has also
being critical
of Major
General
Shavendra
Silva-the
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
of Sri Lanka
at the UN. Mr.
Lee has
criticized the
UN
for appointing
Major General
Silva to the
UN Advisory
Panel on
Peacekeeping."
Silva
is depicted
even in Ban
Ki-moon's
Panel of
Experts report
as engaged
in war crimes.
Sri Lanka's
Mission to the
UN sent a
letter to
Pioli
denouncing
Inner City
Press'
reporting on
Silva.
Other Missions
don't
do this, but
it appears
that the past
financial
relationship
between
Permanent
Representative
Kohona and
Pioli leads
the Sri
Lankans to
believe they
have an "in"
with Pioli's
UNCA.
Ironically,
Pioli
brags that he
doesn't need
extra funds.
When Inner
City Press
first
challenged him
in 2008, he
said, "I have
a lot of
money."
Who knew then
that some of
it came from
Sri Lanka's
Palitha
Kohona.
These
matters are
entirely
legitimate to
be reported
on. So is
this: public
records
show Pioli campaign
contributions
in the US.
This too is
problematic,
or emblematic
of Pioli: the
editor
of the Boston
Globe
Martin Baron,
among many
others, opines
that "It is
simply not
appropriate
for any
journalist to
make a
campaign
contribution."
How
can you cover
US politics
while making
campaign
contributions?
What
are the
policies of
the
Poligrafici
Editoriale
Group and its
Quotidiano
Nazionale, La
Nazione, Il
Resto de
Carlino, Il
Giorno and
Quotidiano.net?
The companies'
Stefania Dal
Rio has been
asked, in
writing and by
phone, still
without
response.
And head of these family businesses, Maria Luisa Monti Riffeser? Watch
this site.
