By Susan Merrell
PNC People’s National Congress said:
Susan Merrell the Prime Minister is not referring to any one Journalist. This is not his role to name individuals or journalists. But if you feel this is directed to you feel free to use these comments in your blog.
It is good that you see PNG is not a failed state, and agree with the Prime Minister.
A crime such this is totally unacceptable, and the Prime Minister agrees. No woman should be subject to this kind of violence. It is also important that the media / social media respect these women’s confidentiality. The story is important and people need to be aware of the issues in PNG, but please respect these woman’s privacy during a highly personal experience that no woman should ever have to endure.
The Prime Minister is 110% behind the investigation and bringing to justice the people involved. Yes the buck stops with the Prime Minister / Police Minister and he is fully aware of this. Over the past 12 months he has implemented numerous changes to the Police with the Police Commissioner.
Please be careful that you are not seen to be trying to take credit as a journalist for someones else’s very traumatic experience. There is a fine line in helping report news and being seen as a journalist leveraging someone else’s pain to make a name for themselves.
The reply:
The reason that these atrocities occur in PNG is because they can. Things are carried out in secret. These women don’t need more of it, they need the bright light of truth and justice shone on their plight.
Clearly it is a man who wants this atrocity to remain ‘private’. I’m sure they (the women) just want the brutality to stop – in fact I’m sure of it. I’ve interviewed enough brutalized PNG women to know this.
So, please don’t put words into my mouth nor attribute to me motivations that I don’t have. If what I have written has motivated the appropriate person to action, then I am satisfied ( in this instance).
By the way, should you decide to publish in a public forum then expect that the publication is indeed ‘public’. Welcome to the real world [a much bigger world than PNG] – where censorship is an anachronism.
