Papua New Guinea Ban On Media

PORT MORESBY (The National/Pacific Media Watch) - The Papua New Guinea media has been barred from reporting the PNG Defence Force board of inquiry into the Julian Moti affair.

The inquiry ruled last Friday (5 Jan 2007) the proceedings would be heard in camera, or without the media present, and took evidence from Chief Secretary to Government Joshua Kalinoe and director-general of the National Security Advisory Council Joseph Assaigo behind closed doors.

Only the appointing authority, the Minister for Defence, has the power to make the inquiry public.

The inquiry panel headed by Justice Gibbs Salika made the decision to go behind closed doors on an application by lawyers representing the Chief Secretary.

Basing on the PNGDF Regulations 7, which is a part of the PNGDF Act, chairman of the inquiry judge Justice Gibbs Salika ruled: “The ruling must be given effect to and the inquiry for the moment, will be heard in private until such time the minister directs otherwise.”

He continued: “We don’t know where the minister is so we have to get some directions from him as to whether the proceedings should be public or private. But before we endeavour to do that, we will seek the minister’s direction, one way or the other. So, for the moment, the ruling of the inquiry is that it will be heard in private until the minister directs otherwise.”

Defence Minister Martin Aini is away in his electorate in Kavieng and attempts were being made to locate him for a decision.

Davis Stevens, lawyer representing Kalinoe had used Regulation 7 (1) attachments of the PNGDF Act to argue that while Section 51 of the Defence Act called for the minister to convene a Defence Force inquiry, Section 7 called for the Defence Force inquiry to be heard in private unless, the convening authority, in this case, the Defence minister, instructed otherwise.

He quoted Regulation 7 (1) as follows: “Proceedings before board of inquiry: (1) Subject to a direction to the contrary by the convening authority, an inquiry before a board of inquiry be heard in private.”

It was agreed that there were some “inconsistencies” in the regulations and Justice Salika commented that those particular provisions needed to be cut down.

Stevens said that was something for the legislature to think about.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Leonard Louma has been summoned to appear in the inquiry tomorrow.

He confirmed last night that he had received a summons to appear. It is understood his name was mentioned during evidence in camera, prompting the summons from the inquiry.

+++niuswire

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