The real victim is the truth
Australian media reporting of a
recent Nauru Police Force investigation into claims by a 26 year
old Somali women that she was raped, proved beyond doubt that some
Australian media outlets were not interested in the truth,
according to the Government of Nauru.
Justice Minister David Adeang said reports by the ABC, the
Guardian and some other outlets were "shameful, unethical and
dishonest", and insulting to genuine victims of assault.
"The police investigation has shown there was no rape therefore as
far as we are concerned the person in question is not a rape victim
or a victim of any crime," he explained.
"The person did not cooperate with police and refused to accompany
police to what she alleged was the crime scene."
The Minister said media outlets should stop referring to the
person as a rape victim and should accept the findings of the
investigation.
"These media outlets have such an agenda they only accept the
truth that suits them. Truth is the real victim here."
Mr Adeang confirmed that the decision to include the name of the
person on the report was the decision of the Nauruan authorities
alone and said the media should stop blaming others, including the
country's Australian PR company who merely distributed the
Government's statement.
"It is a lie to say we 'published' the name. We did not even use
her name in our statement. We simply sent a police report to a few
media outlets who already knew who she was, in the interests of
accountability.
"I haven't seen her name published anywhere so this is just a
smokescreen to protect the embarrassment of the ABC and the
Guardian who ran the original story that has now turned out to be
false.
The Government of Nauru has tried to assist the media by updating
them with this case, but due to the absurd reaction, "will be
reluctant to update Australian media on future police
investigations", according to the Minister.
"Furthermore we will reconsider our cooperation with media outlets
like the ABC and the Guardian who refuse to provide any balance and
who have replaced real journalism with political activism."
Mr Adeang, who said the women concerned may face charges of making
a false complaint, stood by the country's police force "one hundred
per cent"!
He also confirmed the Government's commitment to the safety and
welfare of all refugees and locals and gave an assurance that all
allegations of criminal activity would be investigated
properly.