(PINA/IFEX) – Samoan journalists have been ordered not to report proceedings of a Commission of Inquiry into the disappearance of a police file showing Prime Minister Tofilau Eti Alesana was convicted in 1996 and fined on two counts of theft. On 28 April 1998, Commission Chairman Maiava Iulai Toma told reporters that they were banned […]
(PINA/IFEX) – Samoan journalists have been ordered not to report proceedings
of a Commission of Inquiry into the disappearance of a police file showing
Prime Minister Tofilau Eti Alesana was convicted in 1996 and fined on two
counts of theft. On 28 April 1998, Commission Chairman Maiava Iulai Toma
told reporters that they were banned from reporting proceedings, although he
said they could attend sessions. It follows a similar order Maiava made in
1994 when he chaired a commission of inquiry into allegations of corruption
in government made by the country’s former chief auditor.
**Updates IFEX alerts dated 11 March 1998, 24 December, 4 December, 21
November, 12 September, and 24 June 1997 **
Maiava, who is also Samoa’s Ombudsman, is investigating the disappearance
and then reappearance of the police file on Tofilau. When Samoa’s
parliamentary opposition first claimed Tofilau was a convicted thief, the
police said there was no record of this. However, the police commissioner
later told parliament a file had now been found.
Journalists Association of Western Samoa (JAWS) president Lance Polu, who
has just arrived back in Samoa, said he is seeking a meeting with Maiava.
Polu said inquiries on such serious issues should be open and fully covered
by the news media so the people are informed. Polu had been away leading a
four-person PINA group to a Philippine Centre for Investigative Journalism
seminar on reporting corruption.
Tofilau currently has both criminal and civil libel claims against the
independent daily newspaper “Samoa Observer” newspaper and its editors over
various issues. His government has also kept Opposition views off the
government-controlled national radio service, 2AP, and the national
television station, Televise Samoa.
Background Information
The daily “Samoa Observer” is the main source of independent news and
freedom of expression in a country where the government heavily controls the
national radio and television services and also operates its own newspaper.
The “Samoa Observer” has highlighted stories alleging growing corruption in
Samoa. The newspaper’s printing plant has been burnt down in highly
suspicious circumstances, editor/publisher Savea Sano Malifa has been
assaulted, government advertising has been withdrawn, threats have been made
to impose newspaper licensing and the paper faces a series of libel
actions.
