Moseley ban remains

Six months after it was imposed, President Bharrat Jagdeo says the ban on journalist Gordon Moseley from the Office of the President (OP) and State House will not be lifted.

“No, the position stays the same,” Jagdeo told reporters yesterday, when asked whether he would relax the ban.

Capitol News reporter Moseley was banned last July when he turned up for an assignment at OP and was told by a security guard that he would be prevented from entering the two places. He later received a letter signed by Head of the Government Information Agency (GINA) Neaz Subhan stating that the administration of GINA had withdrawn his accreditation to OP and State House. The letter said that though other employees of Capitol News would not be similarly prohibited, GINA would be “inclined to review the decision” providing he apologised for remarks he made about the Head of State in a letter to the press.

Moseley refused to apologise saying that he would not allow anyone to “waste his time.”

The move to ban Moseley has been strongly criticised by regional and international journalists, including the Guyana Press Association (GPA), the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) and Reporters Without Borders.