by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
UN GATE / SDNY, Sept 15 – New UN General Assembly President Annalena Boerbock, a German diplomat, said the GA must live up to its claims. But those include transparency and press access, and due process - all of which are being denied, now under Boerbock. Inner City Press wrote to her Office, on September 10, so for without response, see below.
But Germany's Mission to the UN has written back, washing its hands of censorship:
"Dear Mr Lee, thank you for reaching out to us and for your detailed inquiry regarding press access to the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week. We value the role of journalism, acknowledge the importance of press freedom and appreciate your dedication to this important work.
However, we must kindly inform you that the accreditation and access of journalists to the United Nations premises fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United Nations itself, specifically the Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit (MALU).
The German Mission to the United Nations does not have the authority to intervene in or influence these accreditation processes.
Please note that our Mission can only provide support to German journalists accompanying official delegations. For further assistance, we encourage you to continue to address your concerns directly to MALU or the relevant UN officials. Best regards, Pia Naendorf Pia Naendorf Press Intern at the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations 871 UN Plaza, NY 10017."
Really? MALU hasn't even answered the June 19, 2025 application, nor letters from two pro bono law firms.
To the(er) PGA:
Dear PGA Baerbock - I am writing to you as President of the UN General Assembly, more than two weeks before the UNGA High Level Week, for access to enter the UN and cover the UNGA session you will be presiding over. I am a journalist who covers the UN - and its General Assembly - closely. I also covered international affairs beyond the UN, as simply one example earlier this month see reporting of my questioning of the IMF at one of its briefings I routinely am allowed to enter and cover, "Sept 1, 2025, Decrypt, "El Salvador Is Splitting Up Its Bitcoin," by Mat Di Salvo, "In late July, an IMF spokesperson told Inner City Press that El Salvador was not, in fact, purchasing Bitcoin on a weekly basis but was instead simply moving funds around from internal wallets," here (Also asked IMF about Ghana on September 11).
By contrast, and in a lawless inconsistency of the UN and UNGA that I am hereby asking you to reverse, I and Inner City Press are not allowed into the UN, without reason given. To covering your GA, on June 19, 2025 I wrote to USG Melissa Fleming and MALU's Tal Mekel.
More than two months later, they have not answered. This is unacceptable for the UN and I ask you to ensure that Inner City Press gets a response and is allowed in to cover your GA. This press freedom question, about covering the General Assembly you preside over, is your responsibility and cannot be delegate. Now that you have received this, we will await and report on your response.
For now, Baerbock's office's website does not list any outside fundings, for travel or secondment of staffers (whom we will review) - this after the PGA scandals under John Ashe (RIP), Sam Kutes and since - Inner City Press has covered at least two corruption cases here in SDNY Federal court in lower Manhattan.
More on X for Subscribers here and Substack here
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