By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Video Song
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - CJR - PFT
UN GATE, Jan 20 – 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; Belarus Blues song here.
On January 20, 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York which Inner City Press covers daily, banned from the UN for its questions, this: "the filing of a one-count indictment charging LEONID MIKALAEVICH CHURO, the Director General of Belaeronavigatsia Republican Unitary Air Navigation Services Enterprise (“Belaeronavigatsia”), the Belarusian state air navigation authority; OLEG KAZYUCHITS, the Deputy Director General of Belaeronavigatsia; and two officers of the Belarusian state security services, ANDREY ANATOLIEVICH LNU and FNU LNU, with conspiracy to commit aircraft piracy for engineering the diversion of Ryanair Flight 4978 (the “Flight”)—which was carrying four U.S. nationals and more than 100 other passengers on board—while it was in flight over Belarus on May 23, 2021, for the purpose of arresting a dissident Belarusian journalist who was on board the Flight. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer."
But they remain at large. Guess who is NOT coming to Disney World?
On December 2 US Antony Blinken said, "In coordination with international allies and partners, today we are taking additional measures to raise the cost on Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his regime for their ongoing attacks on democracy, human rights, and international norms, and for their brutal repression of Belarusians both inside and outside the country. These steps represent our third coordinated action with allies this year and are a further consequence of the Belarusian authorities continued flagrant disregard for human rights and Belarus’s failure to comply with its obligations under international human rights law. Pursuant to Executive Orders 13405 and 14038, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has identified three aircraft as blocked property and designated 32 individuals and entities, including Belarusian state-owned enterprises, government officials, and other persons, who support the regime and facilitate its repression. Additionally, OFAC has issued a directive prohibiting certain activities involving new debt with a maturity of greater than 90 days issued by the Belarusian Ministry of Finance or the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus."
On July 5, the UN was promoting a HRC 47 session by its special rapporteur on Belarus Anais Marin. But just a few minutes into her presentation on UNTV to an empty room in Geneva, the webcast went dark. They claim it went all of 29 minutes, but after Minute 13, it is silent darkness, see here, and FUNCA Question here. This is Antonio Guterres' UN - a place of incompetence, unaccountability and censorship. It must change.
Now late and hypocritical, given that they have done nothing about Guterres banning Inner City Press now for 1099 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...
[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."
The Free UN Coalition for Access (FUNCA) continues.
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