Moti report goes online in Australia

The full text of the controversial Moti inquiry report is on a leading Australian newspaper’s website.

One of the major headline items on the website, for The Australian newspaper, was about the Moti inquiry report which is the subject of a pending National Court proceeding in the Waigani courts.

Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare questioned the Defence Force Inquiry report . His lawyer has issued a statement this week warning the media about the possibility of contempt of court proceedings if more reports were published on the issue.

Mr Kerenge Kua of Posman Kua Aisi Lawyers said last night that the coverage by The Australian was very unfortunate. Mr Kua comment is that The Australian’s publication is most unfortunate because there is a universally accepted rule of law in the common law world of which Australia is one.”

He said as the matter was sub judice, The Australian, members of the public including the media were not to comment on it. Mr Kua said The Australian chose to run the report disregarding court proceedings which underpinned the rule of law.

He questioned if Australia would accept if they were in Papua New Guinea’s shoes, where a matter before the federal or state courts was made public.

Yesterday, a press statement from Mr Kua included the warning that if any requests for early release of the Moti inquiry report were published again, there could be legal action taken.

The Australian had earlier published excerpts allegedly from the inquiry report, saying it had a leaked copy of the document.

Source: Post-courier.com