Independent Investigation into the Death of Al Jazeera Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh – 16 May 2022 Daily Press Briefing by Spokesman for Secretary-General – (Excerpts)

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

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Questions and Answers

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Question:  So, I just wanted to follow up… I have two quick questions regarding our colleague, Shireen Abu Akleh.  I know there was a statement last week, and we tried getting a clarification on what was meant by “independent investigation” in the statement you put out yesterday — last week, sorry — and who would conduct this independent investigation?  Especially that the Palestinians have been going through with their own investigation and if… I mean, just clarifying that.  And the second question is, we all saw the attack on the pallbearers, and I know there was a reaction from you from Farhan [Haq] on Friday regarding that, but, today, new footage was also released of Israeli forces actually storming the hospital where Shireen’s casket was, so if you have any comment on that.

Spokesman:  Look, an independent investigation, I think, is exactly that, independent.  It would have to be agreed to by all the parties involved.  I think we can only be shocked at the footage that we saw and the events that we saw around the funeral of Shireen Abu Akleh.  It is important that not only funerals, but also hospitals be… their sanctity, in a sense, be respected.  We’ve taken note, from what I’ve seen, also of the Israelis saying they would have an investigation to the conduct of the police.  We hope that investigation is done quickly and that the results made public.

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For information media. Not an official record.