Men demand compensation from Star

A GROUP of men yesterday marched to the Solomon Star office at China Town and demanded compensation over a front page news article that appeared in the Solomon star.They claimed to be relatives of a womean referred to in the news article, who allegedly had an affair with Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo.

The article focused specifically on Mr Lilo’s lawyer, Nuatali Tongarutu, putting the local media on notice not to publish anything about the allegation.

Four men arrived in a tinted car and argued the article was disrespectful.

They made threats and intimidated the editor and the reporter who penned the article.

They returned later at mid-day and insisted the matter be settled according to custom – which was the payment of compensation.

The Solomon Star contacted its lawyer, who advised against paying compensation to the men.

Our lawyer Andrew Nori wrote:

“As a lawyer from Malaita and someone with some knowledge of Malaita custom, the claim for compensation as evidenced was completely uncalled for.

“In custom, compensation is only justified when a ‘wrong has been committed’.

“My client have not committed any wrong neither in custom nor in law.”

Solomon Star chief of staff Ednal Palmer said the action of this group was a “sad day for freedom of information in Solomon Islands”.

“The news article was straight forward,” Mr Palmer said.

“The Solomon Star was merely reporting what has already been published in the social media and read by thousands of people out there.

“The focus of the article was the contents of a letter sent to Forum Solomon Islands International and all media outlets by Mr Lilo’s lawyer.”

Mr Palmer said this culture of compensation must be condemned at the highest level.

He said what happened was a clear threat to the freedom of expression and the right of the people of Solomon Islands to know.

“This allegation involves the father of the country and is of great public interest, but we take all legally precautionary measures to ensure the report only carry the drama between FSII, the PM’s lawyer and the media. The Solomon Star did not even made any claims that the PM involved in the saga.

“Therefore we are prepared to defend the freedom of information and the right of people to know, in court.

“The Solomon Star has learned from reliable sources that one or two political cronies of the prime minister were behind the group to intimidate the media, particularly this newspaper,” he said.

Mr Palmer said the freedom and the right of the people of the Solomon Islands to express and know, must never be thwarted by those with political interests and agendas.

“Yes, freedom of information comes with responsibility and that article did. Anyone in their right mind would not disagree.”

Daughter of the founder of the Solomon Star Elizabeth Siota who is related to those people said a sum of $2000 she privately gave to the men yesterday was from her own pocket and for their blood relation.

“It was on behalf of our family, for our blood relation, but not on behalf of the company, and I made that quite clear to them as well.”

PM Lilo’s lawyer has warned the media not to publish the PM’s personal life.

PM’s lawyer tells news outlets not to publish allegations

A LAWYER acting for Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo yesterday warned all media outlets not to publish allegations of Mr Lilo’s extra-marital affairs.Nuatali Tongarutu issued the warning after a member of the Forum Solomon Islands International (FSII) posted the allegations on the group’s facebook page, which had attracted numerous comments from members.

In the post, it was alleged Mr Lilo paid $5,000 compensation to relatives of a woman he reportedly had an affair with.

This was after relatives of the Malaitan woman wrote a letter to the prime minister last November demanding $150,000 compensation.

Mr Lilo allegedly paid only $5,000 of the amount demanded.

Mrs Tongarutu wrote to FSII’s chief executive officer Ben Afuga hours after the post appeared on the facebook page and demanded its removal.

She said the content of the post was baseless and the allegation bears no element of truth.

“Whoever is responsible in pulling this stunt has a political agenda to publically ridicule the prime minister,” Mrs Tongarutu said.

“There is no evidence to substantiate the article which you have allowed to be posted in your facebook and has already received several comments in response.

“By allowing the article to be posted in your facebook, you are allowing the public to entertain personal grudges against individuals which may have adverse consequences.

“By entertaining the article, you are likely to personally face criminal prosecution on charges of libel as well as being sued for defamation of character.

“I therefore seek your cooperation by immediately pulling out the article from your facebook.”

Mrs Tongarutu copied the letter to all media outlets, warning them “not to publish a baseless and false article in their newspapers otherwise I hold instructions to commence legal proceedings for defamation”.

By last night, FSII has not removed the post from its facebook page.

Instead, Mr Afuga said the FSII management has resolved to refer the matter to the Leadership Code Commission for investigation.

He added his group will be making a position statement on the matter, soon.

The controversy emerged as Prime Minister Lilo left for his home village in Western Province yesterday for a brief holiday.

He stopped over in Munda and boarded a high-speed outboard motor canoe to Rendova island where he’s visiting relatives.

This afternoon, he’ll travel to his home village on Kolombangara island.

This is not what life was supposed to be like…

We have all been deeply affected by the tragedy that took place in Newtown, CT last week. It will be a long time before we’ll recover (if ever) and in the process of trying to do so, we’ll witness a lot of changes — some for the good and some for the bad.

One of those bad changes is the rise in sales for bulletrproof backpacks for kiddos. Yes, these exist, and apparently, sales are skyrocketing. The company, which is appropriately called Amendment II, has been in the market of making military body armor for years, but considering the abundance of school shootings, they decided to jump on that bandwagon and make body armor for kids, too. Classy.

Owner Derek Williams said that, “I can’t go into exact sales numbers, but basically we tripled our sales volume of backpacks that we typically do in a month—in one week.”

How a backpack is going to save a child’s life while he or she is standing alone and vulnerable in a classroom with their coat and bag already in a cubby is beyond me. So beyond me, in fact, I can’t help but think that this is less about protecting children and more about making money off the fear of parents everywhere.

The backpacks, should you be in the market for one this holiday season (talk about a depressing gift) come in three models from which to choose: “A SwissGear that’s made for teens, and we’ve got an Avengers and a Disney Princess backpack for little kids.”

Disney fucking Princess bulletproof backback. Did you ever think you’d live to see the day that this is actually something that’s being created and marketed toward parents? Has our innocence been so robbed from us, that now this type of stuff is regarded just as normal as making your child a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and cutting off the crusts?

We’ve already seen that gun sales increased after the Sandy Hook shootings which is even more confusing and upsetting, but this is just awful. I can’t imagine this is what our ancestors wanted for us — right to bear arms and gun control arguments aside — putting a six-year-old in a bulletproof backpack should really make us realize that our country is truly out of whack. I’m not saying such tragedies don’t happen in other countries, because they do. But I am saying that they happen more often here and that’s something we really need to evaluate. Why us? And how many more times are we going to have to go through this?

No one can answer that. So, in the meantime, we’ll just send our kids off into the world in Disney-themed body armor. Great.

FOPA workers turn on Ministry of Tourism over unpaid bills

HUNDREDS of disgruntled contractors from the recent Festival of Pacific Arts (FOPA) threatened to destroy and burn down office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism yesterday.The angry workers were the contractors, shell money makers, securities, landscapers and those in charge of the catering services during the FOPA in July.

At about 1pm yesterday, the angry workers threatened to take matters into their own hands and destroy the office following claims the government had failed to pay their outstanding variations after the Arts Festival.

However, swift action by the Police Response Team (PRT) quickly dispersed the crowd away from the Commonwealth Street.

Police blocked off the road leading down to the main wharf with heavy presence of the PRT present until late yesterday evening.

Speaking to some of the angry workers they claimed it had been seven months and the government had been lying to them all along.

“We want to know the truth whether the government will be paying us or not because they have been pushing us around and lying to us all along,” they said.

It is understood Police Commissioner John Lansley, who was also at the scene, had to calm the crowd down with the help of his officers.

Mr Lansley also accompanied some of the workers yesterday to the Parliament House where Parliament had to be interrupted for a few minutes to call for a special meeting to address the workers demand.

The Solomon Star understands the workers have been assured by government leaders at parliament that their claims would be dealt with.

It is also understood foreign affairs officer Senda Fifi’I and defunct FOPA director Robert Au have been summoned to appear before Parliament today to answer to some of the workers claims.

One of the workers spokesmen John Buluwale after returning from Parliament yesterday told the workers that the government would be addressing their claims.

However, the workers angrily responded that the government should not delay the process because they are responsible for all the problems.

“The government must address this issue or else we will continue to protest in front of their office,” the workers said.

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner John Lansley urged members of the public not to take matters into their own hands and to refrain and consider peaceful means that will settle their claims.

Mr Langsley said the rule of law cannot be compromised by people seeking to threaten or intimidate through activities which could cause harm or distress to people.

He said their prime interest is to see that our town and people will not be threatened or harmed.

“Police will not tolerate anyone with self interest to cause fear amongst the public, particularly with this type of behavior,” he said.

Commissioner Langsley also called on those who are affected to be patient and allow rightful authorities to discuss and find ways to solve their claims rather than approach it in such a destructive way.