HONIARA (SIBC/PINA) — Staff have been threatened and a glass door and computer equipment damaged at Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corp. amid new lawlessness here. It comes as the countdown to the end of the guns and stolen property amnesty enters its last week.
In the most recent incidents:
• Men believed to be from the Police Field Force threatened SIBC staff over news reports telling how some Field Force men boycotted a parade in which police officers returned weapons and ammunition.
• Five masked armed men entered a Solomon Islands Red Cross senior staff member’s home, harassed children there, and looted household property.
• The Bar Association of Solomon Islands strongly deplored an incident in which a partner of Sol-Law legal firm was assaulted by men demanding the firm’s vehicle.
Pacific Islands News Association president and SIBC general manager Johnson Honimae, who is in Samoa as a trainer at a regional workshop, deplored attempts to intimidate the national broadcaster. Honimae said from Apia that he was being briefed regularly by SIBC staff and would be following up on the incidents as soon as he returned to Honiara.
Some disgruntled armed men expressed their objections to being disarmed. They harassed and intimidated ordinary citizens and those working for peace.
Meanwhile, the Peace Monitoring Council applauded the police officers who surrendered weapons during the parade at police headquarters at Rove.
Council Chairman Paul Tovua said this was a courageous action sending a positive message to the community about the police force’s commitment to law and order.
The council also applauded the police executive who pressed ahead with the parade and disarmament, despite attempts to disrupt proceedings.
Tovua said positive action by the commissioner, the deputy commissioner and the assistant commissioner strengthened the resolve of police officers to take part in the parade and surrender weapons.
