Solomon Islands: PFF welcomes prompt Police action over car-burning
PFF, Rarotonga, COOK ISLANDS -- Solomon Islands police are treating the early morning torching last Thursday of a
private vehicle owned by senior journalist Dorothy Wickham as suspicious; and are still ascertaining whether the vandals
had personal or professional grievances with the ONE News Television manager. Wickham had been up all night with
relatives visiting her home on Wednesday 23 March and had just gone to bed in the dawn hours of Thursday 24 when she was
alerted by loud crackling and smoke. Her security worker had also just gone to sleep from his night shift, as it was
daybreak.They could only watch as the flames engulfed the vehicle, which was uninsured. Another vehicle owned by ONE
News and items which could have been easily stolen were left untouched. Wickham has spent some two decades in journalism
and has provided extensive coverage to the regional and international community, breaking stories around the internal
armed conflict of the late 90's and the post-conflict recovery and governance issues.
She is the Radio New Zealand International correspondent for the Solomon Islands as well as General Manager and a
founding owner of the ONE News TV service which is a leading news provider there. No threats had been received in the
lead-up to the car-burning, and Police have taken statements and are carrying out their investigation. Regional media
watchdog the Pacific Freedom Forum welcome the serious and prompt attention given by the Police in this matter. "An act
such as this; taking place in broad daylight, is an unusual and extreme way of signalling grievance against any person
in this region and we welcome the serious attention which Solomon Islands Police are giving this incident," says PFF
chair Susuve Laumaea of Papua New Guinea.
"In an environment where the professional and personal lives of those in the media can often be closely linked to the
communities they cover, it's important that journalists are able to work without concerns for their safety and the
safety of colleagues and loved ones," says PFF co-chair Monica Miller of American Samoa. "Importantly, the Solomon
Islands Police are showing their colleagues in neighbouring Melanesia states that media workers are also human beings
with the same constitutional rights to protection and state services available to all citizens."
Wickham was also the target of vehicle-tampering some ten years ago, when the brake lines in her car were cut. The
discovery happened while she was driving along one of Honiara's many mountainous ridge roads.
ENDS