UNifeed: GENEVA / PILLAY IRAN

GENEVA / PILLAY IRAN

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay asks the Iranian authorities to respect the right to protest. She is also looking into the trials of protestors in Iran that followed demonstrations against the election results earlier in the year. UNTV

Duration:01:58Date:08 December 2009

Categories:

United Nations Mission in Sudan, POLITICAL AND LEGAL QUESTIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS, LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA, IRAN (ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF)

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Full Script

STORY: GENEVA / PILLAY IRAN
TRT: 1.58
SOURCE: CH UNTV 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
 
DATELINE: 8 DECEMBER 2009, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND 
SHOTLIST:
RECENT – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND 
1. Wide shot, exterior, Palais de Nations 
8 DECEMBER 2009, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

2. Pan right, Navi Pillay to audience at press conference
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: 
“We have raised the matter with the ambassador and we have written letters to the capital in Iran calling for respect of the right to protest. And this is also a fundamental freedom in any democratic country or any country for that matter, that people have the right to protest and should be allowed to do so. I also drew attention to the trials that are going on and the severe penalties that are being imposed and I've asked about the mode of those trials and I am examining whether there have been fair trials. I have raised the question of the very serious penalties and the death sentences that have been imposed.”
4. Cutaway, reporters writing
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: 
“I think the detention of the two Swiss businessmen appears to be a violation because they were detained in custody for a long time before the government of Libya announced that they were now subject to judicial proceedings for tax evasion. Their detention seems to be unfair and there has been no proper explanation for them. They appear to be victims of a state level dispute between Libya and Switzerland and should in my view be released as soon as possible. Individuals should not be made to suffer because of bad relations between states.”
6. Wide shot, rear angle, panel to audience

STORYLINE:

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay  has asked the Iranian authorities to respect the right to protest.

The High Commissioner said this in response to journalists' queries at a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday.

Pillay said the right to protest was a fundamental right in any democratic country and people should be allowed to so. The High Commissioner is also looking into the trials of protestors in Iran that followed demonstrations against the election results earlier in the year. She expressed concern about the level of fairness of the trials and the severity of penalties including death sentences that have been imposed.

In a wide-ranging exchange, the UN human rights chief called for the release of two Swiss businessmen, held in Libya for more than a year. She criticized their long detention without trial and said they appeared to be the victims of a dispute between Switzerland and Libya. "Individuals should not be made to suffer because of bad relations between states," the High Commissioner stressed. The men were held shortly after the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his wife were detained in Switzerland for alleged mistreatment of their domestic staff.  
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ENDS

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