U.N. secretary-general commits to defending press freedom
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon 25 Jun 2011 10:06 Africa/Lagos U.N. secretary-general commits to defending press freedom PARIS, June 24, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Press freedom, particularly free expression online, will be a priority for newly re-elected U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. chief pledged today in a meeting with the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders. The heads of both organizations said they were encouraged by statements made by the secretary-general in support of press freedom during the upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa. "The uprisings in the Middle East have demonstrated that people all over the world are hungry for information and cherish their ability to communicate with one another," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. "This is a basic human aspiration grounded in international law." The organizations asked Ban, who at the beginning of his first term pledged to support jou...