Sir Michael Somare

Sir Michael Somare is currently the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.  An inquiry report, based on an inquiry conducted by the PNG Defense Force, implicated him in Julian Moti’s escape from Papua New Guinea in October 2006, and is currently fighting the release of the inquiry report in the PNG court system.  In response to calls for the release of the report by the media and others in late July, Somare said, “You can tell them to go to hell.”  Somare was re-elected as prime minister in August, amid public outcry against his alleged participation in the Moti affair and his repression of the inquiry report.

In September 2007, while the PNG National Court was attempting to consider a judicial review of the inquiry, on Somare’s request, the inquiry report was alleged to be “missing” for several days.  The National Court refused to suppress the report, which led to an even greater clamor for it by various interested parties, including the PNG parliament, Australia, Transparency International, and the Solomon Islands Opposition coalition.  The report was finally released to Defense Minister Bob Dadae on 28 September 2007.

In early October, Somare barred the Opposition in parliament from discussing the Moti affair.  Parliament speaker Jeffery Nape said that the ban was in place because it was an issue before the court, which the Opposition challenged, as the court had already handed down a decision and no appeal had yet been made.  During heated parliamentary debate, Somare maintained that he had done nothing criminal in relation to Moti’s escape from PNG.

Dadae officially rejected the report as illegal on 31 October 2007, on the grounds that the constitution of the inquiry was improper.  The publication of this rejection may lead to contempt of court charges against both Dadae and the newspaper Sunday Chronicle, which printed a six-page spread of the report, because Somare and others had filed an appeal of the National Court’s September decision, making it a matter pending before the court.

For more information, please see:

Leaked Report Implicates PNG PM in Moti Flight (31 July 2007)

Somare Re-Elected PM, Tensions With Australia Escalate (13 August 2007)

Australia Pursues Moti Prosecution, Inquiry Documents “Missing” in PNG (11 September 2007)

PNG Judge Refuses to Suppress Moti Inquiry Report (20 September 2007)

Moti Inquiry Report Released (28 September 2007)

Somare Gags Parliament on Moti Issue (04 October 2007)

PNG Defense Minister Finds Moti Inquiry Illegal (31 October 2007)

Minister and Newspaper Face Contempt Charges in PNG (08 November 2007)