At the public forum on Freedom of the Press last night, the Bermuda Human Rights Commission (HRC) revealed that it had consulted with the UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay in May after our Premier instructed his press secretary to reduce contact with The Royal Gazette.
The UN Commissioner was quoted by HRC Chairwoman Venous Memari as saying: “Any directive banning an institution or government’s department from relating with a specific newspaper would be contrary to human rights and indeed your national legislation.”
According to media reports, local lawyer Wendell Hollis argued at the Forum that the UN may only have been told one side of the issue.
Mr. Hollis also theorised that the move by Government might have been sparked because the Government viewed The Royal Gazette not as a newspaper, but as a mouthpiece for the opposition…
In my opinion that’s an appalling excuse, particularly in the context of the Premier’s “one down one to go” quip. It’s a cliché that any government that feels under pressure from the media will immediately claim that the media is acting nefariously on behalf of other political groups or vested interests. This blur of perception and fact is dangerous turf.
It is my view that you either believe in freedom of the press, or you don’t.
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