The Palau Media Council (PMC) and the regional media freedom watchdog Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF) expressed their solidarity with Island Times and its publisher, Leilani Reklai.
This comes in response to the defamation lawsuit filed by Surangel and Son’s Co. last week regarding the newspaper’s reporting about the leaked tax reports.
In a statement issued on Nov. 2, Palau Media Council said legal action by President Surangel Whipps Jr. family against the newspaper, “raises important concerns about citizens’ access to information and the freedom of the press.”
“The Council sees this legal action as an assault on press freedom and an attempt to undermine the accountability that is vital to democracy. Ms. Reklai, one of Palau’s senior journalists, is being targeted simply for reporting on documents that were already in the public domain,” the statement stated.
Meanwhile, PFF said the legal action will “threaten public trust in media and private sector transparency.”
“Any journalists coming across official documents already circulating and directing public conversations would only be doing their jobs in looking into these issues, and reporting it, ” said PFF Chair Robert Iroga, of the Solomon Islands.
PFF said many governments around the world have begun to decriminalize outdated laws, recognizing the harm censorship and the fear it can cause the public and the press.
PFF highlighted that other global media organizations support the United Nations’ position on defamation laws and whistleblowing, advocating for legal frameworks that protect journalists and whistleblowers rather than punish them.
PMC said that Island Times had instead provided a platform for clarifying public understanding of the new PGST tax law’s impact on major corporations and Surangel and Sons’ actual tax contributions.
“These issues are clearly within the public’s right to know, and the Council emphasizes that media plays a crucial role in reporting such findings and promoting informed debate.” (By: Bernadette Carreon)
Palau has claimed the top spot in the Media Freedom Index 2023, released in September by PFF during the 7th Pacific Media Summit in Niue.
In the ranking system—where 5 signifies the most freedom, and 1 indicates significant challenges—Palau scored 4.5. This places it first among 14 Pacific Island countries surveyed, excluding Australia and New Zealand.
The report indicates that social, cultural, and economic pressures pose the most significant challenges to media freedom in Palau. However, the nation faces minimal legal, political, or safety challenges regarding its media landscape.