"secrecy is the enemy of justice"

MEDIA New Zealand's largest daily has criticised "quiet acceptance" of closed courtrooms in the so-called terrorism cases still going through the justice system. "One of the troubling aspects of the so-called 'terror' arrests - and criticism of them - that have dominated the news over the past fortnight is the quiet acceptance of closed courtrooms in one centre," reads an editorial this week from the New Zealand Herald. Criticised in the past for being a voice of New Zealand conservatives, the New Zealand Herald retains an ability to surprise, including another editorial entitled, "Peters plays the fear card again" - an insight into comments from Foreign Affairs minister Winston Peters who accuses some Maori of promoting "apartheid." MORE: Editorial: Secrecy is the enemy of justice - 29 Oct 2007 - Opinion, Editorial and reader comments from New Zealand and around the World - nzherald

blogcards: revolution to be blogged

BLOGGARD Saw this while surfing through Blogging While Brown: "The revolution will not be televised, it will be blogged." Being white, I don't qualify as a brown blogger, but that sure sounds right.

tahiti publisher: " i do not even have a tie "

Behind every rule, regulation, sign, code and law lies the power of the French state, limitless.

EDITORIAL

Judge-shopping is an alleged motive behind attempts by the French state to transfer a defamation case some 18,000 kilometres from Pape'ete to Paris.

That and the opportunity to stifle freedoms of speech. News of the transferral came as a shock to Tahiti Pacifique publisher Alex du Prel when he opened a letter demanding his attendance at an investigatory court. On the other side of the world. Holding the letter, du Prel might have been forgiven for doubting his grip on reality. In the summons, Court officials helpfully suggest options for train routes on the underground Paris metro. A long - long - way from catching a train anywhere, du Prel is in fact where he usually is - 19,000 kilometres south west of the Eiffel tower, sweating in the heat of an island newsroom, tropical magazine covers mushrooming across ceiling and walls. "I do not even have a tie," he laments in a rambling press freedom alert. Five pages of testimony later, the Mo'orea media man trails off into footnotes, somewhat apologetic, clearly dismayed, still defiant. "Yes, JPK was assassinated." Puffing on Bison tobacco, paint-strippingly strong, du Prel published that headline earlier this year. Previously he doubted the death of former Pape'ete editor Jean-Pascal Couraud was indeed murder. Bashings; torture even, yes, but more than that? No. "Not assassination, not even Flosse. If the agents are not trained properly, maybe they make a mistake and they go too far," he said in December 2006. By January 2007, however, the publishing veteran was publicly backing rumours that French trained agents planned the kidnapping, torture and killing of JPK, lashing four concrete blocks to his unconscious body, dropping him into waters 3,000 deep. Headlines in his Tahiti Pacifique magazine attracted a complaint of defamation, laid by a French gossip columnist with backing from state lawyers. She later denied accepting 680,000 euros from their boss, former president Gaston Flosse. Already suffering a heightened sense of unreality from decades of corruption associated with countless billions in nuclear test money, du Prel studied his letter with disbelief. "On 1st September we received a fax from a grand dame of the investigatory court, commanding we submit ourselves to her offices, in Paris, on 10th October at 9 am, (indicating which metro station!) so they could examine us over our article." "I was sentenced to start a trip, to Moorea, Tahiti, Los Angeles, Paris (and back), a journey that can not be finished in less than four days because it represents a trip of 38,000 km with a minimum of 46 hours in the air at a cost of about 4,000 euros, nearly nz$7,000. " Expenses would include "airplanes, taxis, restaurants, hotels in Tahiti, and Paris, where I do not know anyone; buying warm clothes, and so on." End result of losing a case against the State? "The skin off my ass," asserts du Prel, predicting that the cost of attending even preliminary hearings in Paris would kill off his 17 year old magazine. Starting in 1990, Tahiti Pacifique is a monthly with a circulation around 6,500 copies in French Polynesia and around the world, the closest thing to an independent voice in a territory deeply corrupted by nearly fifty years of nuclear colonialism. Of those billions, at least us$70 million ended up in a French bank in Japan, under the names of Gaston Flosse and Jacques Chirac. "Tahiti-Pacifique is seen by these people as responsible for the fall of the great Gaston - thanks for the compliment. In order to ensure a glorious return to power of 'brother Chirac', it is necessary to shut down this little, overly-independent news organisation." Even proven right, impossibly high legal fees and other expenses means du Prel loses everything as soon as the case opens in Paris.

"If these proceedings are on their terms, convicted or acquitted, it will guarantee the demise of our publication," says the Tahiti Pacifique editor.

Previously, du Prel fought off numerous court actions from various Flosse administrations himself. On one occasion, du Prel won a ruling from the administrative tribunal to allow him back into press conferences he had been banned from by Flosse.

Facing down seemingly limitless might of the state, du Prel taught himself arcanery of French press laws to keep his magazine alive.

No chance of similar success in the guilded halls of Paris, among black robed practitioners operating at "forensic" levels of French law, fully funded by the French state, snootily silencing a citizen enjoying his constitutional rights to the utmost.

Short story: du Prel loses, we all lose.

Corporate cronyism will have finally rid one of the few remaining voices of credibility from the region, and a rare source of independent analysis.

tahiti mag attacks judicial harrassment

"True justice, like the can-can, happens in Paris."

MEDIA PRESS FREEDOM ALERT from TAHITI PACIFIQUE MAGAZINE October 2007 issue “The judicial adventure continues ..” Prosecutor Bianconi and his cronies use subtle tricks of justice against Tahiti-Pacifique magazine What was doubtful, has happened. Our astonishing conviction – from a trial we consider scandalous - brought by Ms. Bourne, as well as two other trials in the same vein (Nelson Levy(1) and Yves Haupert(2)), reinforces our view that they were only a first step, an "appetiser" for a large-scale offensive mounted by prosecutor Jean Bianconi to silence Tahiti-Pacifique magazine. For example, on 1st September we received a fax from a grand dame of an investigatory court, commanding we submit ourselves to her offices, in Paris, on 10th October at 9 am (she indicates which metro station!) so they could examine us over our article "Yes, JPK was murdered." See (TPM 189, p.22-25). Plaintiffs in this remote control procedure are none other than senior prosecutors in Papeete, namely public prosecutor Jean Bianconi, vice-prosecutor Christophe Perruaux and Philippe Stelmach, deputy investigator at trial court. In Paris? Yet all these senior judges live and work just fine under the coconut trees of Tahiti, (which is why they have been honoured in our pages), as does the Tahiti-Pacifique editor, on the island of Moorea, 20 kilometres from Papeete. Why Paris? Why move legal actions to 20,000 km away? Is not that what one might call a judicial ‘trap’? So, just for the "first hearing of a formal review,” I was condemned “to begin” a trip to Moorea-Tahiti-Los Angeles-Paris (and back), a journey that can not be completed in less than four days because it represents a trip of 38,000 km with a minimum of 46 hours in the air at a cost of about 4,000 euros: airplane, taxis, restaurants, hotels in Tahiti and Paris where I do not know anyone; buying warm clothes, and so on. I do not even have a tie. Nightmarish, you need extra support for two flights of 12 hours. Is this requirement for such a journey - allegedly for justice - not unreal, too? So, even before formal review, we would already be sentenced to pay a small fortune that Tahiti-Pacifique does not have, because the monthly publication is a tiny {circ: 6,500}, almost philanthropic business in a micro market (with an economy in crisis); as our accusers know very well. A lawyer friend familiar with the world of Parisian black robes explains how this Schmilblick works: "To file a complaint in Paris was simple, Bianconi did not even have to apply for relocation of the case. It was enough to show that Tahiti-Pacifique is distributed in Paris. He bought a copy of the magazine in Paris [a bookstore in L'Harmattan sells 25 a month], is issued a purchase invoice and completes the trick: the offence is committed in Paris and the Court of First Appearance holds jurisdiction. Complaining against this kind of "contract" - dependant on the goodwill of one party to decide jurisdiction - has been tried before. It is an old petty viciousness already used in the past at trial in St Denis, Reunion or St Pierre and Miquelon, forcing the author or editor of a book published in Paris to defend themselves in these distant jurisdictions. “Under such practice, an effort to prejudice the rights of the defence is obvious, because free choice of jurisdiction in investigation and trial is contrary to general principles of law - we do not choose the judge. “Nevertheless, strangely, the supreme court has so far accepted any place as proper jurisdiction wherever the crime was committed. “You will have to defend yourself against Bianconi and his acolytes assisting the leading lights from the fourth section of the Paris prosecutors’ office specialising in this area, under a magistrate who must regularly commit this type of case to trial, and ends before the 17th chamber of the courts, which specializes in the law of the press. I have seen the problems raised by such a case and you will not get away without hiring a lawyer expert in laws of the press. “It is certain that the three judges will rely on statutory protections for a magistrate acting in the discharge of his duties. Still, it is known that for any hope of a discharge before the 17th Chamber of the Paris courts, you must engage the services of a professional in the field. Expect to suffer financially." This is a very Machiavellian trap. First our accusers appear to have used procedural tricks known only for forensic purposes, too long to explain here. The fact that for the evidentiary review, we must first defend ourselves before charge courts, with what we can do with lawyers that cost ‘the skin off your ass,’ that even after three trials before the 17th special chamber, the chance to be heard will be that person who hired the best lawyers at the best price. Then it will be the court of appeal, then supreme court, then certainly I will be doomed. Indeed, our accusers most certainly have friends and friends of their networks from schools, churches or others, ready to rend us apart. In addition, the complainants themselves enjoy beautifully indexed wages and legal aid, which, under ‘this statutory protection for magistrate discharging their duties’(3) will allow them in March to draw from the leading lights of the 4th section of the Paris prosecutor’s office that specializes in this area, as well as lawyers at the Bar of the 17th Chamber, "specialists" where justice is rather a matter of endless debate among lawyers, costly experts on the intricacies of procedure and legal jurisprudence, at the expense of the poor litigant, of course. So, if these proceedings are on their terms, convicted or acquitted, it will guarantee the demise of our publication, which has been in existence for 17 years and has an excellent reputation, both locally, nationally and across the Pacific region. An apparent eagerness of the attorney Bianconi against certain persons is public knowledge of some notoriety in Tahiti. Several cases: Vetea Guilloux, the agent who accused his colleagues of murdering the journalist Jean-Pascal Couraud (JPK), but who was himself sentenced to jail; former doyen of senior examining Papeete magistrates, Jean Taliercio-Baptiste who resigned in disgust after a legal reprimand. According to his lawyer, files mounted against him reached five meters high. As former head of research for police, Capt. Gilles Goubin saw his career shattered, having to sell his apartment to pay his legal fees, an economy from a life of honest work. Now it is our turn to suffer the wrath of Bianconi. It seems obvious that we will suffer singed feathers, especially since our opponents have access to all means of state justice, the better to grind us down. Since a fairly rough interview with prosecutor Bianconi after the first trial of Vetea Guilloux in late 2004, we gathered two witnesses including another magistrate inside the courthouse who told us Bianconi made statements such as "I will have the head of du Prel." We also believe that this trap was in planning for a long time: in fact, beginning in April 2005 a meeting took place of the "inner circle" of former president Gaston Flosse during which they analyzed the reasons for the crushing electoral defeat of their Senator. Several comments in confidence as well as articles in weekly newspaper L'Hebdo confirmed that Tahiti-Pacifique is seen by these people as one of those "responsible" for the fall of the great Gaston (thanks for the compliment). So, in order to ensure a glorious return to power of "brother Chirac”, it is necessary to shut down this little, overly-independent news organization. Apparently attending this same meeting was Ms. Christine Bourne, a former journalist of Les Nouvelles, which explains the 80 million FPF French Pacific Francs (668,000 euros!) in public money that former president Flosse gave to her: "my role was much more confidential based on breaking news (...) and conducting confidential strategy meetings each weekend to discuss what tactics were planned, in addition to talks on the phone almost every day." This would explain why this lady wrote in April 2005, under the heading "Confidences" in her internet blog, this sentence: "Our colleague du Prel stands a fair chance of having to exculpate himself from court (etc)(4). From Paris to Papeete, trials will descend ... " (5) The question is this: how is it that the confidential adviser to Mr. Flosse knows in advance that we would have three trials in Tahiti (hers and two other forced ahead by Gaston Flosse), and especially that three different prosecutors were assigned us in the courts of Paris? Would the prosecutor have been able to participate in this memorable meeting of the "inner circle" for Gaston Flosse??? We don’t doubt it! Of course, it is clear that we are not going to be “put through the mill" without defending ourselves, even with our small "provincial", or "colonial" resources. So we wrote a long letter to Mrs. Rashida Dati, the Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals to explain our problem, stating that "even if I testified in Paris courts how justice works in the distant island of Tahiti, for sure you will take me for a fool it seems so unbelievable. " We also contacted our brothers in the Parisian press, and you know how some responded? "Listen, it's great. The subject of the article which we are attacking is the JPK case, the GIP agents, the network of protection around Flosse, and so on. Finally a trial in Paris on these affairs! So go ahead, tell everything that you know, we will all be there, our pencils sharpened already!" Maybe, but even if ultimately I won, I would be ruined, battered. That is certainly the aim of this Parisian "manipulation" that strongly resembles a vendetta. One case, to be sure, to follow! Alex W. du PREL (1) Shortly after Ms. Bourne, M. Nelson Levy, a former treasurer of the Tahoera'a Party (from Mr. Flosse) drags me to court for supposed defamation in a letter from a reader, claiming Fcfp 1 million in damages. I called a long time associate to ask him where the case came from. He says "Listen, take a look at Quinquis (a lawyer for the Tahoera'a), he did it." Shortly after, unfortunately, he died. Some days before the trial, I call and leave messages for Mr. Quinquis which he does not respond to. On the eve of the trial, on 26th June, I call the clerk of the criminal court who replied, "No, I have nothing at all on the court register, there's no trial, but call the prosecutors Registry to be sure." I call this office and state my name, and a lady say "Yes, yes, yes, you must come, if it has been registered, the trial will take place." Panicked, I quickly prepare my defence, working until late at night; take the boat at 5am for court at 8 am, where I discover that my case has been added to the bottom of the register. Then, the president of the tribunal agreed with the lawyer of Nelson Levy that there is no security of costs, and that they would advertise notification of a new date for trial. I had to wait until the end of August to receive a letter from the correctional court to say that as Mr. Levy had never filed records, the case is closed. I was therefore summoned to the court when it knew very well that there could be no trial. That is quite similar to being made an unwitting tool of justice. (2) For the complaint by Yves Haupert (a former head of the propaganda unit for President Flosse, same lawyer, same one million claim, same fallacious reasons), I find myself in the dock on 31st July (after Mr. Flosse signed into ‘civil union’ with Mr. Temaru) and, oh surprise, I can speak, I can defend, they allow me to plead freely. On September 26, the court dismissed Mr. Haupert and declared my discharge. (3) Legal protection also enjoyed by High Commissioner Mathieu following a complaint from Yves Conroy accusing him of refusing to dismiss vice president of the assembly, Henri Flohr, even though declared legally ineligible. Thanks to the players at the Paris bar, the case was entitled to a ‘presidential’ funeral. (4) Extracts from a report by territorial auditors. (5) April 2005 “Confidences” – Tahiti Today

family quotes judges: it was assassination

NEWS Family of former Pape'ete editor Jean-Pascal Couraud are fighting attempts by "the State" to close off a dossier of evidence involving allegations of his assassination. They are now quoting anonymous judges in an appeal against closing the dossier. "It was assassination." Philippe Couraud says judges who have seen the dossier point to it as containing conclusive evidence to his brother being killed by members of the "administrative flotilla." DEADLY Reference to 'the State' and its 'administrative' side signals a deadly new phase for an investigation that has seen its scope widen dramatically since late 2004. At that time a presidential security agent alleged overhearing colleagues boasting at a party about drowning the investigative journalist. Contradicting an official finding of suicide, the allegations gathered force with an expose just this year of bank accounts holding US$70 million. SECRET Set up in a bank in Japan, the secret accounts were under the names of Jacques Chirac and Gaston Flosse, the former French president and his Polynesian protege. French media reports recently suggested that the Japan accounts are part of an emerging - and staggeringly enormous - banking scandal. Allegations centre on $1.5 trillion in over-stated assets at Clearstream, senior of two main clearing houses for banks worldwide. EXPOSED By comparison, Enron involved $14 billion in false assets - one thousand times less than Clearstream. Bankers stoutly deny corruption, exposed in a 2001 book by an investigative journalist and a former Clearstream executive. Official investigations by the European Union did not found any evidence to support the claims. Authors claim investigations are incomplete and suffer political interference because of a 'secondary system' of some 33,000 secret bank accounts, held by politicians and business people at highest levels. EXIT COURAUD Sacked by pro-nuclear press magnates for criticising Flosse, the former Les Nouvelles editor carried on as an investigative reporter under the opposition. Nearly ten years after Couraud disappeared on 15th December 1997, French media report he was leaked details about the Japan bank accounts - and very probably tortured for the whereabouts of backup copies. In 2004, Pape'ete courts heard evidence that Couraud was seen with a dossier some seven centimetres thick on the day he was allegedly 'disappeared' by agents. FRENCH CIA Now the family say local agents were led by officers of the DGSE, the Directorate General for External Security, an allegation previously limited to their having a training role. French equivalent of CIA and MI5, the history of the DGSE includes bombing the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland in 1985 in the lead up to protests over nuclear testing in Moruroa. Few of these details make it into the latest update from Soutien JPK, with chairman Philippe Couraud limiting comment to the role played by members of "administrative flotilla." ANALYSIS This new phrase - the administrative flotilla - includes GIP, the Groupe d'Intervention du Polynesie, officially an emergency response group. Some GIP agents are ex-convicts, carrying out political thug tactics and espionage on orders from their boss, former president Gaston Flosse, including, allegedly, the kidnapping, torture and assassination of Jean-Pascal Couraud. In widening this description to include 'the administration', Soutien JPK's support committee are drawing attention away from this group's headline grabbing antics, limiting its part to a detail in a much bigger picture of corruption at the highest levels of the French republic. BACKGROUND Tahiti publisher accuses French prosecutor of legal harassment Further appeal to France over 1997 disappearance of Tahiti journalist Appeal to French minister to help solve mystery disappearance of Tahiti journalist Memorial site of missing French Polynesian journalist vandalised Judiciary criticised over 1997 disappearance of French Polynesian journalist Mystery man shows up to mark anniversary of missing Tahiti journalist

pina backtracks from award

NEWS | COMMENT Executive members of the Pacific Islands News Association are backtracking from their election night award to a controversial Tonga publisher. Announcement of the previously prestigous Freedom of Information Award for Tavake Fusimalohi saw criticism at the way the former long-time broadcaster was chosen. Matangi Tonga chose not report the announcement at the time, dismissing it as "not news." MASI NOT PINA Now the website reports that an award has been given to Fusimalohi - just not the PINA Freedom of Information award. Instead, he has been handed an award from PINA 2007 hosts MASI, the Media Association of the Solomon Islands. Matai 'Akau'ola, a broadcaster with Radio Fiji who was in Nuku'alofa for the Pacific Islands Leaders Forum Meeting said that MASI asked him to deliver the award to Tavake while he was in Tonga, reports Matangi Tonga. "CLARIFY" Matai, a member of the former board of PINA, and the only one re-elected to the current board of PINA, was quoted as saying he wanted to clarify that "while it was publicised that a PINA media freedom award was awarded to Tavake during the PINA convention - it was not actually the PINA Media Freedom Award, but was, in fact, the MASI media award that he delivered to Tavake last week. " Fusimalohi is a long time broadcaster in the region, famed for his spirited attacks against critics of the kingdom's monarchial government. Less well known is criticism over his handling of media aid projects and state broadcasting resources. More recently, the MASI awardee appears to have swapped sides, joining pro-democracy forces by starting his own anti-government outlet, Kele'a, a newspaper, to some industry scepticism.

region: time to look at polynesian union

REGION Melanesia has its spearhead group, with its new China-funded headquarters in Vanuatu. Micronesia focuses northward towards former colonists, Japan and America. Economist magazine, making rare comment on the pacific basin, suggests it is time to look again at polynesian union. "The islands in the central and eastern Pacific, argues Ron Crocombe, a regional analyst, may have to revive plans for a Polynesian federation." The Pacific Islands Forum | Lepers change their spots | Economist.com

what $3m oz aid buys you

PACIFIC ISLANDS MEDIA What does roughly $3 million in australian aid dollars buy you these days? Not a lot, evidently, if the website formerly known as www.pacmcf.com is anything to go by. Announced with great fanfare as another leap forward for pacific islands media, the Pacific Media and Communications Facility promised a lot and delivered less. Starting life in an academic department, the facility aquired a dot com address, an undeclared link to multimillion consultancy factories worldwide, and wide sceptism. A pity. PMCF produced hundreds of pages on the media scene in 14 pacific island countries, regional overvews and global contexts. Now all this grand vision seems to have disappeared into the digital vapour. An extraordinarily blunt confirmation of what this agency forecast would be yet more acronym confetti from Australia. Disclosure: avaiki nius agency editor Jason Brown was country researcher for the Cook Islands part of the 2004 PMCF Situational Analysis and Needs Assessment for the AusAID funded Informing Citizens report. He was paid $2,500, including expenses.