Journalist receives death threats: correction
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an RSF correction to its 29 September 2000 Solomon Islands alert: There is a small error in our protest letter about the Solomon Islands. The first sentence of the last paragraph should read “Malaitan” rather than “Malay” immigrants. The corrected version follows. RSF regrets the error. In a letter to […]
Journalist receives death threats
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the minister of the police and national security, William Haomae, RSF expressed its concern about the threats received by journalist Duran Angiki, a correspondent with the Pacific Islands Report web site. The organisation asked the minister “to guarantee the journalist’s safety”. Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general, reminded the minister […]
Government plans restrictions on media coverage of ethnic conflict
(PINA/IFEX) – On 18 September 2000, Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) said that the Solomon Islands government plans to restrict local news media coverage of the country’s ethnic conflict. SIBC News stated that a letter addressed to all media organisations by Director of the Government Communication Division Alfred Maesulia said all media releases on the […]
Solomon Islands journalists beat transport ban, fly to peace talks
(PINA/IFEX) – On World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2000, the Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI) fought a government ban on journalists boarding a chartered boat and a flight to the Guadalcanal conflict peace talks by chartering a plane itself to get nine journalists there. MASI chartered the plane with funds provided by UNESCO, […]
Government confirms lifting of media restrictions
(PINA/IFEX) – State-of-emergency media restrictions in the Solomon Islands have ended, a government minister confirmed on 27 October 1999. The minister of state assisting the prime minister, Alfred Sasako, said in a letter to the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation: “I can confirm that restrictions, which applied in the four months to 15 October 1999, are […]
Commonwealth envoy wants media restrictions ended
(PINA/IFEX) – On 14 July 1999, the Commonwealth Special Envoy to the Solomon Islands, Sitiveni Rabuka, urged the Solomon Islands Government to end state-of-emergency restrictions imposed on the news media. Rabuka, the former Fiji Islands prime minister, told the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation that the media is vital in informing people of the progress being […]
PINA urges Solomon Islands government to remove restrictions
(PINA/IFEX) – On 6 July 1999, PINA urged the Solomon Islands government to lift restrictions imposed on the media under a state of emergency. PINA said these restrictions date from colonial times and are not appropriate for a modern democracy. **Updates IFEX alerts of 5 July, 2 July, 30 June and 3 February 1999** PINA […]
Solomon Islands media restrictions compared with former South Africa, pre-democratic Nigeria
(PINA/IFEX) – The daily newspaper of the Solomon Islands, the “Solomon Star”, says that state of emergency media restrictions imposed by the government are “more akin to those in former apartheid South Africa or pre-democratic Nigeria.” In an editorial on 30 June 1999, the “Solomon Star” says: **Updates IFEX alerts of 2 July, 30 June […]
CPJ protests media restrictions
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply concerned over your administration’s decision to impose draconian regulations governing all media coverage of the ethnic tensions there. **Updates IFEX alert of 30 June 1999** On 28 June, the Governor General issued an amendment to the Emergency Powers Act of 1999 that threatens journalists who violate state-imposed reporting restrictions with […]
Foreign journalists warned over Solomon Islands reporting
(PINA/IFEX) – Foreign journalists covering ethnic conflict in the Solomon Islands have been warned they could be jailed, fined or banned under state of emergency regulations, the regional news agency Pacnews reported on 2 July 1999. Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Alfred Sasako was quoted as saying the government is considering banning […]
Solomon Islands introduces emergency powers restricting media
(PINA/IFEX) – On 28 June 1999, the Solomon Islands Government introduced emergency powers restricting media reporting amidst an ethnic conflict which has led to the declaration of a state of emergency. In response, the national broadcaster, Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, stopped rebroadcasting live news bulletins from Radio Australia and the British Broadcasting Corporation in case […]
Council tries to stop reports on Solomon Islands ethnic tension
(PINA/IFEX) – The provincial assembly caucus on the main island of Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal, is trying to stop reporting of statements about growing ethnic tension on the island. It asked the national government minister responsible for the media to ban further statements on the unrest, Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation reported on 2 February 1999. The […]
“Solomon Star” protests attempts to swear in ministers in secret
(PINA/IFEX) – “Solomon Star”, the main newspaper of Solomon Islands, has protested concerning efforts to hold swearing-in ceremonies of two new government ministers in secret, preventing journalists from covering the occasion. In a 25 September 1998 editorial, the newspaper wrote: “Events this week in which the media had been barred from covering the swearing in […]
“Custom” compensation claim linked to raid on editor’s home
(PINA/IFEX) – According to PINA, Carol Colville, editor of the weekly “Solomon Voice” newspaper in Honiara, Solomon Islands, had her home raided by a group of men in the early hours of the morning of 3 May 1998. The raid followed reports in the paper on controversial land allocations. According to Colville, during the raid, […]