Island Times Palau editor Leilani Reklai, right, at the 2023 Pacific Media Freedom Index launch in Palau, pictured on 23 September 2024. Photo: BenarNews / Stefan Armbruster
The Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) is echoing calls for freedom of expression and press freedom to be upheld across the Pacific.
Both the Palau Media Council and the Pacific Freedom Forum have voiced concerns over a defamation case filed by Palau's President Surangel Whipps Jr's father against the national newspaper, Island Times Palau.
Whipps Snr's company, Surangel and Sons, filed the civil lawsuit against the newspaper's editor Leilani Reklai on Wednesday, 29 October. The next day, Whipps Jnr told reporters at a news conference that "Island Times continues to print political propaganda, it's not accurate", according to a BenarNews report.
PINA said in a statement that it would rally regional and international support for its vice president Reklai.
Kalafi Moala Photo: RNZ Pacific/Koro Vaka'uta
The association's president Kalafi Moala said the role of the media as defenders of democracy is more crucial now than ever before.
"We are calling for immediate freedom, not just in Palau, but throughout the Pacific," he told RNZ Pacific.
"We have been concerned that in some [countries] there have been freedom of speech, freedom of the press and so on. [But] in some countries, there seems to be opposition, especially from the powers that be, as well as intimidation.
"We feel that that's what's happening in Palau right now."
He said PINA is objecting to the attempt "to intimidate that media".
On Tuesday, PINA has sent a letter to the Palau President's office voicing it concerns.
"Freedom of speech and democracy are things that go hand-in-hand. Our advocacy for freedom is an advocacy for democracy," he said.
He said it is especially important as Palauans went to the polls on Tuesday.
