By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN
UN GATE, Sept 19 – Before Ireland took over the presidency of the UN Security Council on September 1, on August 30 Inner City Press wrote to the Irish Mission to the UN to request access to its September 1 press conference.
The Irish Mission's Alternate Political Coordinator and Spokesperson Eoghan McSwiney wrote back, "We would refer your request for access to the UN and to UN press conferences to the Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit of the UN Secretariat." In context, this was and remains Kafka-esque collution in UN censorship, see below.
Perhaps it's not surprising - over in Ireland they were trying while censoring in New York to name Katherine Zappone as a crony Special Envoy to the UN on Freedom of Expression - irony, much? - complete with a COVID-mocking banquet.
We know that Zappone broke the rules with expensive flight to NYC in September 2019. How much is this year's Irish bachanal costing?
Now even as New York City's government said proof of vaccination much be required to enter the GA Hall and Guterres and Abdulla Shahid lie that the "honor system" - which would result in the closure of a restaurant in NYC - complies with it, Ireland is bring a big delegation to the UNGA its Mission has help ban the Press from.
The Taoiseach Micheal Martin will speak in Bolsonaro's GA Hall on Friday. On Tuesday, he will participate in a joint EU/UN event on empowering women in peace and conflict situations - while Guterres and now the Irish Mission cover up peacekeepers' rapes by blocking Press questions. The Taoiseach to pay a visit to NBC Studios located in the historic 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan. What a joke - we'll have more on this, and the planned meeting with Kathy Hochul. What does she say about the UN's no-vax "honor system" super spreader event?
On September 1, Inner City Press submitted to McSwiney and the Mission four questions then live tweeted Ambassador Nason's "press" conference, here
Back on August 30 Inner City Press replied:
"With all due respect, that is not in keeping with your duty as President of the UN Security Council. Inner City Press covered the UN and UNSC under Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon then was thrown out under Antonio Guterres after asking him directly about [, among other things including Cameroon,] the omission from his financial disclosure covering 2016 of his link, through Lisbon's Gulbenkian Foundation which paid him money, to convicted UN briber CEFC China Energy.
This was and is a legitimate journalistic question however Inner City Press has been banned by Guterres and his USG Melissa Fleming.
Your current response is Kafka-esque collusion in light of UN Spokesman Dujarric recently saying, in the briefing room, that there is no commitment by the UN Secretariat to even response to a polite law firm letter seeking access to Inner City Press, see video. See also Press Freedom Tracker and The Independent (UK)
The Irish Mission and Ireland have a duty to not collude in censorship, and to take questions from media. Inner City Press is permitted (in fact, invited) to put WebEx questions to the IMF briefings, see below, and is accredited at the SDNY Federal court here in New York.
So it is up to you and your Mission to provide access. This response make you aware / puts you on notice of the conflict of interest that has resulted in Inner City Press' questions on abandonment of UNAMA staff, sexual abuse by peacekeepers, and corruption by the UN Secretariat being blocked.
You should either get this reversed by the UN Secretariat by Sept 1, or in the interim provide the WebEx code for your press conference(s). On deadline, thank you for your attention."
Watch this site.
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