French Quarter:--- Democracy and freedom of the press is under attack.
An employee responsible for communication in the Collectivity of St. Martin has decided to take SMN News www.smn-news.com to court for libel due to an article that was written on October 8, highlighting the lack of communication from the Collectivity of St. Martin.
The employee that holds the position of Director of communication is taking SMN News to court for having damaged her reputation and honor by publishing her photograph as well as information, provided by our sources that stated that there is a total lack of communication from her office to the general public of St Martin.
While SMN News would not discuss the details of the case in this first article, except to say that an emergency hearing is scheduled for Tuesday October 20 in Basseterre. Definitely, we would be updating our readers and supporters and General Public as the case against us proceeds. |
It is clear that the objective here is to suppress information to the General Public and to take SMN News whose motto is “We Tell it Like it is” to court, while withholding information from you the voting population and taxpayers of this island. To close off this article we would give you an opportunity to learn a little more about “Freedom of the Press” in future articles.
Press Freedom
UNESCO promotes freedom of expression and freedom of the press as a basic human right.
UNESCO promotes freedom of expression and freedom of the press and fosters media independence and pluralism by providing advisory services on media legislation and by making governments, parliamentarians and other decision-makers aware of the need to guarantee free expression.
UNESCO promotes freedom of expression and freedom of the press as a basic human right, through lobbying and monitoring activities. It highlights media independence and pluralism as fundamental to the process of democracy by providing advisory services on media legislation and by making governments, parliamentarians and other decision-makers aware of the need to guarantee free expression.
Other major UNESCO activities in this field include the proclamation in 1993 by the United Nations General Assembly of a World Press Freedom Day to be celebrated on May 3rd; the establishment of an advisory group on press freedom which includes media professionals from all parts of the world; the establishment in 1997 of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
UNESCO supports independent media in zones of conflict to enable them to play an active role in conflict prevention and resolution and the transition towards a culture of peace.