Pac Web - South Edition
Fears for Future Follow Move Against Vanuatu Publisher
Behind the dawn deportation of a newspaperman
The banging on the door came at 5.30am. Two vehicles full of police had come to take the shocked journalist away. The police refused to let him call his lawyer. They refused to let him pack some clothes. They would not even let him take his medicine for diabetes.
Within an hour they had taken him from his home to the international airport and bundled him on to an early-morning flight. They deported him from the country he had invested in and lived in for 11 years. They did so without warning at dawn and without a chance for him to appeal to the courts.
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Where did this happen? Not in some military dictatorship. It happened in Vanuatu, a country where media freedom had made big progress in recent years.
Deported was British-born newspaperperson Marc Neil-Jones. He is founder, publisher and driving force of Vanuatu's first successful independent newspaper, the twice-weekly Vanuatu Trading Post. Neil-Jones had set up the Vanuatu Trading Post in partnership with local investors after first coming to the Pacific to work on newspapers in Papua New Guinea.
The arrival of the police at his door followed a series of investigative reports he had recently done. The reports in the Trading Post revealed deals Vanuatu's Government was allegedly negotiating with foreign businesspeople and the backgrounds of some of those it was involved with. Neil-Jones and his newspaper reported, for example, that:
One Asian businessmen named an honorary Vanuatu consul was alleged to have a criminal record.
Another Asian businessman being eyed by the government as a financial saviour was alleged to have been accused of fraud back in Asia. The reports were causing growing concern in Port Vila, Vanuatu's pretty waterfront capital. They were also causing growing anger within the government of Prime Minister Barak Sope.
Sope is a veteran survivor of the wheeler-dealing world of Vanuatu's 'Big Man' politics. He has a history of involvement with suspect deals, according to a recent report in Pacific Magazine.
Much-needed government and economic reforms have slowed since Sope engineered the defeat of his predecessor and became prime minister in late 1999, Pacific Magazine said. Sope said Vanuatu is overburdened with debt and sorting this out is his priority. Sope was out of the country when the police arrived at Neil-Jones' door. But a statement issued in the name of his office said: "Trading Post publisher has been investigating the Government of Vanuatu in almost every activity. Our information revealed that the Trading Post publisher has some sources in Government who have been providing state secrets to him.
"He seemed to be getting access to confidential reports and continues to publish these reports despite being labelled 'state secret'. His permit does not allow him to be involved in Vanuatu's internal politics. His unbalanced and negative reporting continues to instigate instability and is detrimental to investor's confidence in Vanuatu. He seemed not to appreciate that Vanuatu's culture must be respected even in media freedom."
Whoever in government thought ordering the dawn deportation would end their problems with Neil-Jones miscalculated. International, regional and local publicity about the government's alleged deals and friends increased as news of the deportation spread. Fellow Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) members from throughout the region led the way with a barrage of protest faxes to Sope's office.
Vanuatu's Opposition leader, Edward Natapei, called the deportation illegal, undemocratic and dictatorial. He said the real reason for it was that Neil-Jones was about to break more news on a questionable deal between the government and an Asian businessperson. Natapei said transparency by the government is one of the fundamental principles of Vanuatu's Comprehensive Reform Programme. He said when his Vanuaaku Pati led the government it respected the work done by the Vanuatu news media, particularly the Trading Post. This was because the people have a right to know what their government is doing, he said.
Stevenson Liu, president of the national media association Pres Klab blong Vanuatu, said it was very concerned about the government action. It called on the government to use the judicial system rather than deportation if it was concerned about media reports. It pledged to work for continuing media freedom.
PINA said it was appalled. PINA said the deportation of Neil-Jones was a chilling threat to freedom of expression and information in Vanuatu. PINA appealed to the Vanuatu Government not to return Vanuatu to grim days past when there were no independent media and the government-owned media came under constant government pressure.
Vanuatu's Ombudsman Hannington Alatoa said it appeared the government acted illegally and may have breached Neil-Jones' constitutional rights. He began an investigation.
Acting Chief Justice Vincent Lunabek seemed to agree. In response to an urgent request from Neil-Jones' lawyer he issued an interim order to the government to allow Neil-Jones to enter, reside, and work in Vanuatu. A court hearing on the deportation order was ordered.
Neil-Jones, deported to Brisbane on a Friday morning, returned on the Sunday night to a triumphant welcome even though he arrived near midnight. More than 200 cheering and clapping supporters were waiting at Bauerfield International Airport to welcome him. Local media said heavy pressure was put on the government-owned Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation not to show pictures of the crowd in its TV news.
