Vanuatu media group condemns ‘intimidation’ of woman journalist

0
573
SHARE
Port Vila's Bauerfield Airport
Security at Port Vila's Bauerfield airport ... journalist blocked from doing her job. Image: Hilaire Bule/RNZ Pacific

By RNZ Pacific

Vanuatu’s media advocacy group Media Association blong Vanuatu (MAV) has condemned what it calls intimidation of a local journalist by airport security and local police.

This was following action taken by security at Port Vila’s Bauerfield Airport who ordered Vanuatu Daily Post journalist Kizzy Kalsakau to delete her photos.

Kalsakau had taken photos of the arrival of a New Zealand plane transporting relief supplies for Cyclone Harold victims and the repatriation of 58 ni-Vanuatu caught in the covid-19 pandemic last Wednesday.

Kizzy Kalsakau (right) and her colleague wait on the roadside about 1km out from the airport. Image: Hilaire Bule/RNZ Pacific

READ MORE: Vanuatu airport security force journalist to delete NZ repatriation photos

The journalist was asked by airport security and police not to take photos and told to leave the premises.

The president of MAV, Stevenson Liu, described the action of security as “inadmissible” in a country with free media.

He said people wanted to know about their families returning.

Vanuatu has no reported cases of covid-19 coronavirus.

  • This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.
  • If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP – don’t show up at a medical centre.
  • Follow RNZ’s coronavirus newsfeed

NO COMMENTS