KIRIBATI: Newspaper says distributors 'cannot do their job' with intimidation

AUCKLAND (Pacific Media Watch): The editor of the Kiribati Independent has told Radio Australia that his distributors in Tarawa, Kiribati were intimidated by police questioning and he has voluntarily shut down the newspaper pending the police investigation.

It follows an ongoing saga in the country as the editor, Taberannang Korauaba, who is based in Auckland and publishes the online edition from here, has attempted to have the newspaper duly registered.

Korauaba told Radio Australia the police visited the office of the distributor and took a statement, and subsequently the distributor told him they couldn't operate under that kind of intimidation.

"They asked him what is his relationship with the newspaper...they also asked him the purpose of running the paper," said Korauaba.

He said he couldn't undertstand why the authorities were asking questions about whether the distributor, who handles the advertising section of the newspaper, was gaining something from the operation.

"A paper has to function, it needs money," he said.

Korauaba said he is still leaving everything in the hands of his lawyer and hasn't approached the auithorities himself.

The newspaper applied for registration over six months ago and hadn't received any recognition from the authorities. On advice from lawyers, the paper has continued to publish.

Reporters Without Borders sent a letter to the President of Kiribati, Anote Tong, who was also called on by the Pacific Freedom Forum to address the issue.

Other media freedom groups - including International Federation of Journalists, Pacific Media Watch, Pacific Media Centre - have appealed in recent weeks to the Communications Ministry to grant the newspaper a licence without political interference.

Radio Australia: Government intimidation forces closure of Kiribati paper, says editor

Police visit defiant newspaper

Newspaper Registration Act 1988

Newspaper Registration Amendment Act 2002

Newspaper Registration Amendment Act 2004

25/05/2012 - RSF Letter to the Minister for Communications, Transport, Tourism and Industrial Development of the Republic of Kiribati, M Taberannang Timeon

For the attention of Taberannang Timeon, Minister for Communications, Transport, Tourism and Industrial Development, Republic of Kiribati

Subject: Letter from Reporters Without Borders to Taberannang Timeon

Dear Minister,

Reporters Without Borders, an international organiSation that campaigns for freedom of information, seeks your response to the registration application by the Kiribati Independent under the Newspaper Registration Act (1988).

Five months after the application was submitted, the matter is still under consideration. Taberannang Korauaba, the Kiribati Independent’s publisher and editor, and the printing firm Maria Printers, presented affidavits on 2 April identifying them as publisher and printer of the newspaper. The publisher and printer previously provided documents, in December 2011, when the newspaper first began publication.

KI staff have told us, however, that they were forced to shut down in March as a result of an order from your ministry to cease publication until registration was completed. On 18 May, your office extended the ban without giving any reason for the delay in processing the application.

Although the law does not specify a time limit, five months strikes us as an unusually long wait and amounts to a significant impediment to the newspaper’s activities.

Your spokesman Ruatu Titaake, in his instructions on 18 May, cited the Newspaper Registration Act as justification, saying the presentation of affidavits did not give the newspaper the right to publish.

However, Taberannang Korauaba believes that, now that the affidavits have been submitted, the newspaper has the right to continue publishing pending registration. Mr Korauaba followed the same procedure previously when he launched another publication — the community newspaper Tematairiki — without encountering any such difficulties.

According to Professor David Robie, head of the Pacific Media Centre, other publications have been allowed to publish once their affidavits have been presented. This selective application of the laws appears to bear out Mr. Korauaba’s fears that the real reason behind the order to halt publication and the delay in registration is a desire to muzzle the KI at its birth.

In March, the newspaper published a series of articles criticizing the government, which led to threats of legal action by President Anote Tong. We hope that there is no link between the content of these articles and the problems encountered by the KI in its registration application.

In these confusing circumstances, we hereby request that you provide a clear response to the Kiribati Independent and grant its registration application as soon as possible. In addition, we respectfully ask you to clarify the scope of the Newspaper Registration Act and how it is applied.

We hope that you will give this important matter your full consideration and we anticipate a positive response.

Yours sincerely,

Olivier Basille
Director General of Reporters Without Borders
Paris