Papua New Guinea Journalist Assaulted Over Prison Reporting

This story written by Mong Palatino originally appeared on Global Voices on March 6, 2026.

Veteran Papua New Guinea journalist Rebecca Kuku said she was assaulted by correctional service officers at the Bomana remand facility after she reported on the living conditions of inmates residing there. The incident has alarmed local media groups, which called for an immediate investigation as they urged authorities to uphold press freedom.

Kuku and other local journalists reported that more than 50 prisoners were attacked by jail guards at the prison facility, but correctional service officers disputed this and insisted that they were merely trying to respond to a jailbreak attempt.

In response to the news report, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said prisoners must be treated humanely.

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When Kuku visited the Correctional Service Office on February 27 in Port Moresby, she said she was verbally attacked, then punched from behind, and threatened by officers because of her reporting.

The National, the online news outlet where Kuku works, said authorities must discipline the officers who attacked the journalist.

Kuku called out the attempt to besmirch her reputation on social media and insisted that she did nothing wrong in reporting the facts of the incident.

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The Media Council of Papua New Guinea is demanding a full independent investigation by police into the attack against Kuku. Its president, Neville Choi, has condemned the attack and threat against one of its own members and said reporters in Papua New Guinea “must be respected for the work that they do in informing and educating the public of what is happening around them.”

He added that if and when a citizen is unhappy with a news report or has evidence that a reporter was compromised while writing a story, they can simply inform the Media Council by filing a formal written complaint.

Pacific Freedom Forum chair Robert Iroga from the Solomon Islands described the assault as “a shocking attack on press freedom and the safety of journalists doing their jobs.”

As of May 2025, Papua New Guinea ranks 78th out of 180 countries on the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index. RSF reported that journalists in the country “faced with intimidation, direct threats, censorship, lawsuits and bribery attempts, making it a dangerous profession.”

[VP]

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