Journalists locked out during Papua New Guinea election

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned multiple violations of press freedom during Papua New Guinea’s June 24-July 8 general elections, including a gag order against a prominent blogger following a complaint by the chairman of the electoral commission.

Journalists travelling to the northern province of Madang to cover the election were blocked by police and the electoral commission. In the capital, Port Moresby, media were not allowed to film or take photos at the city’s main vote-counting centre.

Authorities have also taken alarming measures against citizen journalists, most notably blogger Martin Namolong Earlier, he referred to Election Commissioner Patilias Gamato as a “tomato” in several posts criticizing the chaotic election.

Gamato filed a lawsuit, claiming that he “His character, credibility and reputation have been seriously damaged” In Namorong’s post, which quickly went viral, Gamato defended his decision to sue by saying: “I don’t look like a tomato, I’m a human being. So it was defamation, so I had to take him to court.”

The National Court in Waigani, Port Moresby, issued a gag order prohibiting Namolong from making further “defamatory statements” on Facebook and Twitter.

“Journalists and citizen journalists have a responsibility to inform the public about issues that arise during elections.” RSF said. “The courts and authorities must recognise that Martin Namolong has committed no crime and the review order imposed on him must be lifted.”

RSF, an international NGO that defends freedom of information, added: “A country cannot claim to be a democracy simply because it holds elections. It must also respect and protect media freedom, which is the cornerstone of every democracy.”

Namolong’s attorney, Christine Copland, said her client was not given a chance to speak when the gag order was issued because court officials said they couldn’t find him to serve the documents.

Namolong responded to the order by posting a photo of himself blindfolded and gagged. After another hearing scheduled for tomorrow, he tweeted: “I’m very calm about tomorrow’s hearing because my lawyer is not a slacker.”

Papua New Guinea ranks 51st out of 180 countries Reporters Without Borders 2017 World Press Freedom Index.