Amal Clooney has hit out President Donald Trump for his relentless attacks on the press and giving a "green light" to autocratic regimes around the world, during a speech at the United Nations.
Clooney, the Global Citizen of the Year honoree at the UN Correspondents Association Awards, delivered a passionate speech about the need to defend press freedoms, citing several cases where she represented imprisoned journalists in Myanmar, and has also called out other “autocratic regimes” like North Korea, the Philippines, Turkey, Brazil, and Hungary for contributing to “the chilling effect” on the press.
Later in the speech, the Lebanese-British attorney turned her attention to Mr Trump.
“The US president has given such regimes a green light and labelled the press in this country the enemy of the people,” Ms Clooney said, referring to his constant bullying and name-calling of media organisations and press members as “enemy of the people” and “fake news.”
Ms Clooney also referred to the "brutal torture and murder" of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last month. The Saudi public prosecutor has blamed a "rogue" kidnap operation, involving an attempt to take Mr Khashoggi back to Riyadh, for the killing.
Amid mounting international anger, Mr Trump has faced a backlash from his own Congress for downplaying a CIA report that suggests Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have been involved in ordering the killing of Mr Khashoggi, Saudi officials have repeatedly denied that Crown Prince Mohammed had anything to do with the killing.
Mr Trump has been reluctant to publicly criticise the 33-year-old Saudi ruler and tarnish his relationship with Saudi Arabia.
Mr Trump has also cited defending Israel and Iran's influence in the Middle East as why there is a need to maintain strong relationships with the Arabian kingdom.
"They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran," Mr Trump said in a statement, referring to Saudi Arabia. "The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region. It is our paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world!
This is not the first time Ms Clooney, who was accompanied by her actor husband George at the event, has spoken publicly against Mr Trump.
Ms Clooney lambasted the president for mocking Dr Christine Blasey-Ford’s testimony about an alleged sexual assault during the Senate confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Dr Ford said Mr Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her when they were in high school, an accusation
