Congratulations! And good to hear.
Greetings to Marco Perduca and the team!
Michael Cottier
CIAO ANTONIO, THE HISTORIC VOTE THAT AT THE UN REJECTED THE RECOMMENDATION
TO SUSPEND THE TRP FOR 3 YEARS IS DEDICATED TO YOU.
RADIO RADICALE JOURNALIST DIES IN GEORGIA
October 17, 2000 cnn.com at: 7:39 AM EDT (1139 GMT)
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) -- An Italian journalist found dead on a mountain
road in Georgia was killed by a powerful blow to the chest, a forensic
expert concluded on Tuesday. The body of Antonio Russo, 40, who worked for
a radio station affiliated with Italy's liberal Radical Party and
contributed to other Italian media outlets, was found on Monday on a road
winding through the Gombori Pass, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of
the capital Tbilisi.
Mikhail Mzhavanadze, a forensic doctor, said that several of his ribs were
broken and that it wasn't immediately clear if the journalist had been
murdered. He may have died in a hit-and-run car accident, he said. Mamuka
Areshidze, a former member of parliament, said that Russo had focused on
the war raging in Russia's breakaway republic of Chechnya, which borders
on Georgia, and had made several trips to Chechen refugee camps in
Georgia.
Areshidze said that Russo left Tbilisi on Sunday with several other people
who had come to his apartment. He also said that Russo's portable computer
and satellite phone were missing.
HISTORIC VOTE AT THE UNITED NATIONS ECOSOC TO DEFEND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
OF NGO AT THE UN
>
>New York, 19 October 2000. Yesterday afternoon in New York, the Economic
>and Social Council of the United Nations, in an unprecedented decision and
>breaking its tradition to deliberate only by consensus, has rejected by 23
>votes against, 20 in favor and 9 abstentions, the proposal to suspend for
>three years the Consultative Status of the Transnational Radical Party at
>the United Nations.
>
>We dedicate this victory to Antonio Russo, a radical activist and a
>journalist, brutally murdered last Monday in Georgia, while documenting
>atrocities committed in Chechnya.
>
>Due to the mobilization of western democracies, particularly Italy,
>France, Germany, United States, Canada, Japan, Sierra Leone, Lesotho and
>others, fundamental principles of the rule of law, fairness and due
>process prevailed. We thank all those who have supported and undertaken
>initiatives in the last few weeks to defend due process and the
>Transnational Radical Party in this difficult challenge.
>
>We regret the absence of some of the major non-governmental organizations
>from those who formed a common front to defend freedom of expression of
>NGOs at the UN, which yesterday's vote guaranteed for all non-governmental
>organizations that, like the TRP, strive for the affirmation of the
>principles of the United Nations Charter.
>
>From this morning, with renewed strength and determination, the
>Transnational Radical Party, its members and activists, are at work to
>press on in the struggle for the rule of law and for freedom in all those
>countries where these principles are violated and for the affirmation of
>international justice.
>
>The result of the recorded vote: YES: 20; NO: 23; ABSTENTIONS: 9; ABSENT:
>1 DID NOT VOTE: 1
>
>ALGERIA: Yes
>ANGOLA: Yes
>AUSTRIA: No
>BAHRAIN: Yes
>BELARUS: Yes
>BELGIUM: No
>BENIN: Abstention
>BOLIVIA: Yes
>BRAZIL: Abstention
>BULGARIA: No
>BURKINA FASO: Abstention
>CAMEROON: did not vote
>CANADA: No
>CHINA: Yes
>COLOMBIA: Yes
>COMOROS: No
>COSTA RICA: No
>CROATIA: No
>CUBA: Yes
>CZECH REPUBLIC: No
>DEM REP OF CONGO: Yes
>DENMARK: No
>FIJI: Abstention
>FRANCE: No
>GERMANY: No
>GREECE: No
>GUINEA-BISSAU: Absent
>HONDURAS: No
>INDIA: Yes
>INDONESIA: Yes
>ITALY: No
>JAPAN: No
>LESOTHO: No
>MAURITIUS: Abstention
>MEXICO: Yes
>MOROCCO: Abstention
>NEW ZEALAND: No
>NORWAY: No
>OMAN: Yes
>PAKISTAN: Abstention
>POLAND: No
>PORTUGAL: No
>RUSSIAN FEDERATION: Yes
>RWANDA: Abstention
>SAINT LUCIA: Yes
>SAUDI ARABIA: Yes
>SIERRA LEONE: No
>SUDAN: Yes
>SURINAME: Abstention
>SYRIAN: Yes
>UNITED KINGDOM: No
>UNITED STATES: No
>VENEZUELA: Yes
>VIET NAM: Yes
>
