Four FAO executives denounced Italian Insider to the Italian judiciary for alleged defamation in an evident attempt to prevent coverage of dubious activities at the UN agency. FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva also is sueing Insider editor-in-chief John Phillips for allegedly damaging the reputation of the Rome-based agency.

 The trial has been set to open at the Rome Tribunal Nov. 4 with the prosecutor in his indictment claiming the Insider carried out a "criminal design" against the plaintiffs. 

The four are Food and Agriculture Organisation Communications Chef de Cabinet ad interim, Mario Lubetkin, former IT division chief Florentin Albu, who since has left the organisation, and former Media relations chief Mehdi Drissi, currently FAO representative in the Gulf states, as well as Spanish coordinator for Expo Clara Velez Fraga.

 Italian Insider disclosed last year how the Moroccan M. Drissi rigged the appointment of FAO’s Latin American communications officer, discarding two highly qualified women candidates in blatant violation of UN rules.

  Insider also disclosed that Roumanian Albu was not adhering to directives from FAO Director General Jose Graziano da Silva to earmark new positions for staff laid off in budget cuts last year. 

  Phillips said: “Italian insider will not be intimidated or silenced by such scare tactics. We stand by our reports on these gentlemen. We are confident the absurd charges will be rejected by the court.”

 Since its inception Italian Insider has persistently reported on wrongdoing and mismanagement at the UN agencies in Rome and elsewhere, disclosing that IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze was living a life of luxury in a sprawling mansion on the Appian Way.

 Nwanze was forced to leave his digs after the Insider exposée and Australia decided not to re-join IFAD after Australian MPs considered Insider's evidence of Nwanze's sky-high expenses.