APIA (Pacific Media Watch / Samoa Observer): Samoa Observer’s chief reporter, Sophie Budvietas, was the target of a pointed threat and theft on Friday night.
She had stopped at the On the Rocks bar to meet up with her husband who was out having a few drinks with friends so they could go home together.
“When I got into the car, I reached over to check that all my gear was there – as I do every time I leave it in the car,” she said.
“It was then I noticed that the computer and its charger were gone.
“What got me was that nothing else was taken. My camera – which was sitting on top of the laptop – was still there as was the laptop bag itself.”
Budvietas said her initial reaction was that of anger – she knew then it was a veiled threat when it was only the laptop that was stolen.
“I was so angry at the time. I thought – I couldn’t have been in the bar for more than 15 minutes,” she said.
Unpleasant note
“Obviously whoever stole it thought there was information on it they didn’t want brought out into the open.”
She said it wasn’t until she got home and checked the car to see if anything else was missing when she found a note on the floor that read “Observer b*tch” in careful handwriting.
It was written neatly across the back of a torn page taken from a press pack that she had just received earlier in the night while attending a United Nations event.
She said she realised the threat was not veiled – it was very direct.
“It’s not a nice feeling to be threatened,” Budvietas told Samoa Observer.
“This threat is certainly not going to stop me doing my job. In fact, it has given me the resolve to keep doing it – and to do it well."
“It’s going to a take a lot more than a threatening note and a stolen laptop to stop me from fighting for freedom of speech and freedom of the media.”
Police report
Yesterday, Budvietas reported the incident to the police who took a statement and said they would get back to her if they had any leads.
After spending a little over an hour at the station she returned to work with her back-up laptop to continue reporting.
As chief reporter, Budvietas covers a wide range of stories, but her most controversial work recently has possibly been exposing long-simmering anger within the tourism industry over perceptions of failure by the government to properly market and develop Samoa as a destination.
Pacific Media Watch has already been contacted by the NGO Reporters Without Borders in relation to this story.
There have been numerous critical reports on media freedom in Samoa lately:
Media council in the works following threats from Speaker
Samoan MP warns journalists could be jailed for 'misreporting'
Journalists threatened - but press freedom isn't, says PM
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