Retired Major General Jerry Singirok has called on the Commissioner of Correctional Service to take decisive actions and conduct investigation into the assault incident of a female journalist at the Correctional Service headquarter in Port Moresby last week.
Singirok who serves as the president of the Pacific Islands Regiment Veterans league stated, the media is the fourth arm of government, and it plays an important role in ensuring transparency and accountability.
“Throughout my career—from the Bougainville crisis to the Kangu massacre and operations such as High Speed 1 and 2 and in 1997 Operation Rausim Kwik and currently the exposure of Illegal Gun violence implicating our leaders, we allowed media to report accordingly”, he expressed.
“We must collectively uphold the principle that the public must be informed openly and truthfully, even in times of conflict.”
He added that how can a democratic nation claim Freedom of the Press when we either suppress media freedom or threaten and assault members of the media who are only doing their jobs by reporting the facts.
“We collectively condemn this disgraceful behavior. Democracy cannot thrive when journalists are silenced or attacked. It is the duty of our institutions to protect the press, not assault them,” said President of Pacific Islands Regiment Veterans League.
