EXPULSION OF THE TRP FROM THE UN: PUBLIC APPEAL OF TO THE PRESIDENT AND

THE MEMBERS OF THE ECOSOC

We, the undersigned,

considering

* that the Assembly of the ECOSOC will meet on 18 October to decide

whether to confirm or reject the request for the suspension for three

years of the consultative status at the UN of the Transnational Radical

Party;

* that this request, put forward by the Russian Federation and supported

by a majority vote of the Committee on Non-Government Organizations of the

United Nations, is based on the false and defamatory charges of activities

in support of terrorism, international narco-traffic and paedophilia;

* that none of the charges has been demonstrated in any way and that the

procedures followed by the NGO Committee of the UN do not respect the

principles of the right to a fair trial and the right to defence;

denouncing

* the fact that the accusations made by the Russian Federation constitute

the reaction to the campaign carried out by the Transnational Radical

Party in favour of human and political rights in Chechnya and to the

denunciation of the atrocities committed;

* the fact that the Transnational Radical Party is accused of the very

crimes against which it has fought for years, within the seats of the

United Nations and elsewhere, and that it risks being judged and condemned

with the decisive vote of states governed by totalitarian and dictatorial

regimes which, in open violation of the Universal Declaration of the

Rights of Man, systematically repress civil and political liberties;

* the fact that the confirmation on the part of the ECOSOC of the

suspension of the consultative status of the Transnational Radical Party

would constitute a serious and extremely dangerous precedent, threatening

freedom of opinion and freedom of speech at the United Nations for all

Non-Government Organisations;

expressing

our thanks to the front made up of Chile, France, Germany, Romania and the

United States, which, during the debate on the case of the Transnational

Radical Party in the NGO Committee, defended the right to the free

manifestation of opinions, and opposed a sentence for a "crime of

opinion";

also expressing

our solidarity with the Transnational Radical Party, its leaders and its

members, including the hundreds of public figures around the world who in

the last few weeks have decided, by means of a public appeal, to join the

Party, to support its cause and to defend its freedom in the face of the

threat of expulsion from the UN;

ask the President and the members of the Assembly of the ECOSOC

to reject the unfounded and defamatory charges made by the Russian

Federation and to take all possible political and diplomatic steps to

prevent a suspension that would constitute not only an unjust sentence for

the TRP, but also an intolerable violation of the principle of freedom of

expression and therefore a serious attack on the credibility and the

prestige of the United Nations.

NAME: Harry

SURNAME: Bego

ORGANIZATION: Legalize!

SIGNATURE