Monday, April 18, 2016

Ban Ki-moon's UN, Set to Evict Press, Cuts Ability To Film UN Staff Search Files



By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 16 -- As the UN bribery scandal gathered force Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for an audit by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services of the Global Sustainability Foundation (GSF), David Ng Lap Seng's Sun Kian Ip Group and its affiliates including the "World Harmony Foundation" and South South News, among others.

  The audit, completed early this year but first put online by Inner City Press, directly criticizes Cristina Gallach, the Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information.

  Gallach has ordered the search and eviction of Inner City Press' files, set for April 16. She has misrepresented it to UN Ambassadors of major countries.

She and / or Ban Ki-moon above her are so intent on permanently restriction Inner City Press' ability to cover corruption at the UN that they had there functionary head of MALU write to Inner City Press at 1:30 in the morning of the eviction, limiting the Press' ability to document the seizure of its files:

From: Tal Mekel 
Date: Sat, Apr 16, 2016 at 1:30 AM
Subject: Saturday access
To: matthew.lee@innercitypress.com

Dear Matthew,

Access on Saturday is 'exceptional' in nature (as Green Ps do not have access to UNHQ on weekends save for an official event being convened e/g. emergency SC meeting) and is solely for the purpose of over sighting the removal of your belongings.

You may bring with you one (1) individual, again on a  exceptional basis.

Best, Tal

------------------------------------------------
Tal Mekel
Acting Chief
Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit
United Nations - S-250
New York, NY 10017

Tel: 1-212-963-1504
Cell: 1-347-688-6258
Fax: 1-212-963-4642
@UNMediaLiaison
http://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/

   This inordinate focus on ousting Inner City Press, while UN Correspondents Association board members have private offices and many write no articles, is all the more contrary to freedom of the press as Inner City Press on April 15 exclusively published documents of UN and Morocco fraud in Western Saharacredited by 360, here.

Gallach, the highest UN official of Spain, has by her no due process orders BANned Inner City Press from covering even UNSC meetings on Western Sahara. This is retaliation and censorship.

On the afternoon of April 15 Inner City Press was told that it will be UN staff going through the files but that then they will be given to, and impounded for some time by, a third party or parties whom the UN won't even name to Inner City Press.

As one wag put it, maybe they'll just keep passing them along.

  Gallach's Team has heard on April 15 from Capitol Hill to maintain the status quo. They are a lawless bunch - but will they go this far?