Image: Campaign Manager Eddie Tanago at a recent Global Dialogue meeting at the INTERPOL headquarters in Singapore
ACT NOW Campaign Manager Eddie Tanago has been charged by police under the Cybercrime Code Act for allegedly publishing defamatory remarks on social media about the Managing Director of the PNG Forest Authority.
Mr Tanago’s arrest came after a complaint from the PNGFA that ACT NOW had shared a social media post published by a radio company advertising a talkback show that was to feature the Forest Authority and which included an image of the MD, allegedly without his consent.
As part of its advocacy on social justice issues, ACT NOW has been a prominent voice on illegal and unsustainable logging for several years and has published a number of detailed reports on the issue.
Forest crime is recognised as a major problem in PNG by both international and local bodies including the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Financial Action Task Force, INTERPOL, the Bank of PNG and the Internal Revenue Commission.
ACT NOW believes that the arrest and charging of Mr Tanago is a massive over reach by the PNG FA and is a blatant and unwarranted attempt to intimidate and silence public debate on a critical issue of national and international importance.
ACT NOW believes there was nothing defamatory in the social media post it shared and there is nothing remotely criminal in republishing a poster which includes the image of a public figure which can be found all over the internet.
ACT NOW is calling on the Prime Minister to condemn the actions of the PNG Forest Authority and remind all public servants of the need to exercise common sense and proper judgement before making complaints to the police.
Ironically, Tuesday 10 December, the day before Mr Tanago’s arrest, was international Human Rights Day, a day when the United Nations called on all countries to embrace and trust in the power of human rights to ensure a peaceful, equal and sustainable future.
ACT NOW is asking all Papua New Guinea’s development partners, including the UN and other diplomatic missions, to stress to the PNG government the importance of upholding international commitments to free speech and an open society and to call for the withdrawal of charges against Mr Tanago.
It is not just the PNG Forest Authority that is trying to intimidate and threaten ACT NOW and silence debate on forestry issues.
This year ACT NOW has faced two SLAPP lawsuits brought by logging companies seeking to stop publication and distribution of reports about their activities.
Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPPS) involve the abuse of the legal system to silence criticism from individuals and civil society. SLAPP lawsuits have been outlawed in some countries but are relatively unknown in PNG until now.
On 5 December, the National Court stayed legal proceedings brought against ACT NOW in the District Court in Vanimo which had prevented it publishing commentary on the logging operations of one Malaysian owned logging group operating in East and West Sepik.
In March, the National Court also refused to grant an injunction against ACT NOW requested by the same logging companies in separate legal proceedings.
ACT NOW will not be making any further comment on the charge against Mr Tanago until the matter is resolved.
