{"id":990822,"date":"2021-11-09T17:28:51","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T22:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=990822"},"modified":"2021-11-09T17:28:55","modified_gmt":"2021-11-09T22:28:55","slug":"fact-check-did-the-international-air-transport-association-ban-sierra-leones-president-from-flights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-did-the-international-air-transport-association-ban-sierra-leones-president-from-flights\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Did The International Air Transport Association Ban Sierra Leone\u2019s President From Flights?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-did-the-international-air-transport-association-ban-sierra-leones-president-from-flights%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=990822&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>An image <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/permalink.php?story_fbid=10223572080623405&amp;id=1031852473\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shared on Facebook<\/a> allegedly shows an International Air Transport Association (IATA) letter saying Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio has been banned from member flights.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7318047\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7318047\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Facebook\/Screenshot<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span><strong>Verdict: False<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>There is no record of the IATA releasing the letter.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Verdict: False<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The IATA, a trade association, represents about 290 airlines across the globe, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iata.org\/en\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">its website<\/a>. The image in the Facebook post supposedly shows a letter issued by the organization titled, \u201cIATA bans President Bio on all Overseas Travels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ban on entry to IATA member air flights by the President of Sierra Leone, Maada Bio will be effective on 30 November 2021,\u201d the purported IATA letter reads, in part. \u201cThis entry ban is based on a recommendation from the European Union Report on Sierra Leone that will be in effect indefinitely. The ban is thus in line with the recommendation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The letter, however, appears to be fabricated. The IATA has not published a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iata.org\/en\/pressroom\/searchresults\/?archive-content=false&amp;Search=Julius%20Maada%20Bio&amp;ContentType=85&amp;ordering=DateDeschttps:\/\/www.iata.org\/en\/pressroom\/searchresults\/?archive-content=false&amp;Search=Julius%20Maada%20Bio&amp;ContentType=85&amp;ordering=DateDesc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">press release<\/a> on its website containing the language in the document, nor has it shared such a statement on its verified <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/iata.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Facebook<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=Julius%20Maada%20Bio%20(from%3AIATA)&amp;src=typed_query\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter page<\/a>. A search of the European Union\u2019s (E.U.) website also <a href=\"https:\/\/europa.eu\/search\/?queryText=julius+maada+bio+flight+IATA&amp;query_source=EUNION&amp;filterSource=EUNION&amp;more_options_date=*&amp;more_options_date_from=&amp;more_options_date_to=&amp;more_options_language=en&amp;more_options_f_formats=*&amp;swlang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">didn\u2019t return<\/a> any matches for a report recommending Bio get banned from flights operated by IATA member airlines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease note that the document is not from IATA but a forgery,\u201d the IATA\u2019s corporate communications team told Check Your Fact in an email. \u201cIATA has on no occasion issued such a letter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for the E.U. also confirmed to Check Your Fact in an emailed statement that the claim that the E.U. has recommended Bio be banned from air travel \u201cis not true.\u201d <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2021\/11\/03\/fact-check-image-private-planes-climate-change-cop26\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Does This Image Show Dozens Of Private Jets At The UN\u2019s COP26?)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe EU is not issuing bans on anyone to prevent them to take a domestic or international flight. There is no EU regulation to ban a specific person to board an aircraft \u2013 it is for every carrier to make their own health safety assessment and evaluate whether or not take a person on board. There is no regulation to oblige carriers not to take a specific person on board,\u201d the E.U. spokesperson said. \u201cWhat the EU does is putting people on sanctions lists for violations of human rights or international law, which means they are then subject to travel ban, assets freeze or both.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The E.U. spokesperson also noted that \u201cthere is currently no sanctions regime related to Sierra Leone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Check Your Fact <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=IATA+E.U.+Julius+Maada+Bio+flight+ban&amp;ei=aDOFYZVViNfK0w-R7ZaoDw&amp;oq=IATA+E.U.+Julius+Maada+Bio+flight+ban&amp;gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBQghEKABMgUIIRCgATIFCCEQoAE6BwgAEEcQsAM6BQghEKsCOgcIIRAKEKABSgQIQRgAUMEDWKsUYLqZAWgBcAJ4AIABbIgBgQeSAQQxMC4xmAEAoAEByAEIwAEB&amp;sclient=gws-wiz&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiVqZfdq4H0AhWIq3IEHZG2BfUQ4dUDCA4&amp;uact=5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">did not find<\/a> any major media outlets reporting the IATA or the E.U. had called for Bio to be banned from flights. In October, after Bio <a href=\"https:\/\/statehouse.gov.sl\/sierra-leones-president-julius-maada-bio-signs-the-abolition-of-death-penalty-consoles-families-living-with-pain-of-judicial-execution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">signed<\/a> a law <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2021\/10\/8\/sierra-leone-president-formally-abolishes-death-penalty#:~:text=Sierra%20Leone%20has%20formally%20abolished,its%20favour%20on%20July%2023.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">abolishing<\/a> the death penalty in Sierra Leone, an E.U. spokesperson issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/eeas.europa.eu\/headquarters\/headquarters-homepage\/105335\/sierra-leone-statement-spokesperson-abolition-death-penalty_en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">statement<\/a> calling the action an \u201cimportant achievement\u201d that would \u201cnot have been possible without the commitment of the Parliament and the Government.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An image shared on Facebook allegedly shows an International Air Transport Association (IATA) letter saying Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio has been banned from member flights.Facebook\/ScreenshotVerdict: False There is &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-990822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=990822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=990822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=990822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=990822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}