Swiss Won't Disclose Amount Paid to Nicolas Michel, Top UN Lawyer, Transparency Questioned
By Matthew Russell Lee
Inner City Press
March 31, 2008
UNITED NATIONS, March 31 -- Two weeks after it emerged that the UN's legal chief Nicolas Michel took housing subsidies from the Swiss government from 2004 into 2007, the Swiss mission to the UN has refused to disclose the value of the subsidies, monthly, annually or in total. As reported, Mr. Michel's own public financial disclosure form for 2006 did not mention the subsidies, and he has since declined to answer direct questions. On March 29, Swiss Mission spokesman Johann Aeschlimann wrote, "Dear Mr. Lee, I am not - and I will not be - providing details and figures. I indicated to you that the contribution was in the order of what is usual for Swiss diplomats, and I would like to leave it at that."
Aeschlimann had previously responded, when asked about the omission of the subsidies from Nicolas Michel's public financial disclosure form, that "this is an internal UN matter and not for us to comment." On the amount of the subsidy, he had said "the contribution started at the beginning of Mr. Michel's UN contract and it ended at the end of his contract under the previous administration (end of February 2007). The contribution was in the order of what is usual for Swiss diplomats." Inner City Press asked either for the amount, or for information on "what is usual for Swiss diplomats." Even that was not answered - but will be, it would seem, in the future.
Senator Tom Coburn
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2254 Fax: 202-228-3796
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