The foreign press mourns world press freedom day

From the desk of Ian Williams
President of the Foreign Press Association.

When reporters asked Gandhi what he thought of Western civilization, he replied that it would be “a good idea.” Similarly with “World Press Freedom Day,” which is being celebrated at a time when record numbers of journalists have been locked up or killed.
 
We have to earn freedom of the press and defend it across the board. It does not fall down from governments of any particular hue.
 
One of the “leaks” for which Julian Assange has suffered years of oppression by Western Governments was the video of a Reuters team being murdered on the streets of Baghdad. None of those responsible has been held to account.
 
The Swedish, British and American governments who conspire to persecute Assange still keep a straight face attacking the admittedly outrageous Chinese and Russian press repression and censorship.
 
But impunity for friends of governments is the rule. The UK government assisted Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin in using British libel laws to sue Bellingcat. Blackwater did a similar job on the Intercept and oil money had lawyer Steve Donziger imprisoned for contempt of court.
 
Our politicians gladly shake the hands of those whose agents literally ground Jamal Khashoggi into a literal pulp or whose police attacked the funeral of their murder victim, Shireen Abu Khaled.
 
We cannot be expedient about press freedom. We have to hold our governments and allies to account as well the more obvious enemies.