jpk update

The JPK affair involves a lone journalist in French Polynesia, and his family, fighting against the full power of the republic. ... Who killed JPK? a 30 year overview of the JPK affair, from 1967, when Jean-Pascal was a boy by avaiki nius agency editor jason brown 15th December 1997 Surveillance agents, trained by French spies, lash nylon rope through concrete blocks, four of them, to the body of Jean-Pascal Couraud, investigative journalist. His blood ebbs onto the afterdeck of the motorboat, rocking languidly in open ocean swells. Full moon night, open ocean between two islands. Mo'orea and Tahiti. Shark night. 1967 Jean-Pascal, six, holds up a small fish, orange. Francette kneels, raises the family camera from it's neck strap, captures the boy, the fish, a first, a lagoon vista sweeping behind him. There are no mushroom clouds near Mo'orea. In time, the blond French boy eyes a looming reef curl, board underarm. Local Maohi nearby p...

president gaston flosse in 2003, during a visit to french polynesia by jacques chirac NEWS Officials from a Japanese bank claim to have found "no evidence" of an account held for former French president Jacques Chirac. The claim is made in one of seventeen documents seized by an investigatory magistrate from Pape'ete, Jean-François Redonnet, according to French media reports. Redonnet astonished Paris circles when he arrived from Tahiti with search warrants for the offices of the DGSE, Directorate General of External Security, a French equivalent of America's Central Intelligence Agency. 'A LITTLE JUDGE' One site, Lalettrea, headlined its coverage - Le petit juge qui grandit subitement - "A little judge suddenly grows up." Reporting on the search, another site, Le Point, quotes sources as saying the "atmosphere was relaxed" as the judge settled in at a meeting room of the DGSE on Mortier boulevard. The next day, Redonnet also served a war...

tahitipresse carries news of the flosse defamation claim NEWS translated from Tahitipresse, France 3 French senator Gaston Flosse says he will lay a claim of defamation against a documentary on France 3 TV accusing him of “the most abominable acts” relating to the disappearance in 1997 of journalist Jean-Pascal Couraud. Broadcast in France on June 20 and rebroadcast in French Polynesia on June 22, the Tempo programme “Pieces of Evidence” focused on alleged graft by former French president Jacques Chirac, involving bank accounts in Japan. Titled “Death in the Tropics” the documentary also focused on the role played by Flosse, alleging links with the disappearance of Couraud, by-lined JPK. "This programme, specifically slanted, violates the basic principles of any democracy,” said Senator Flosse in a press release, carried by Tahiti Press Agency. "I am indeed accused of the most abominable acts without being able to respond because despite the age of the criminal investigations...

lucien maillard, a former colleague to JPK, pays tribute, saying he never imagined their work could lead to his death. TRIBUTE After grief, after anger and outrage, in time comes meditation. The time for prayer. A prayer of communion with the parents of Jean-Pascal, his children, his brothers, his sister, his friends, present or missing. I am thinking particularly of the late Patrick Brai, a valiant companion of a beautiful collective adventure - what must be called journalism at its most noble - including Jean-Pascal who was both its soul and radiant symbol. Some, to achieve their ideals of loyalty, travel to the Orient or take the pilgrimage to Compostela . We need to move closer to Jean-Pascal - because it is with him, I know! - to keep us with him, to listen, to remain faithful to our ethical commitments, not to betray the word of honour that he has bequeathed to us. We have had the privilege of meeting an exceptional person. Absolute in his quest for truth and honesty, in his ti...

"never again" - a hard hitting editorial against the "calamitous reign of Gaston Flosse." TRIBUTE Reaching back nearly two decades, a former colleague of Jean-Pascal Couraud has typed out an editorial from his most infamous edition. Headlined "Never again", the front page editorial was part of a "special edition" with a self-proclaimed "bias" towards "derision", collecting stories and cartoons from the "calamitous reign of Gaston Flosse." The issues were seized by authorities in Tahiti after Flosse laid an injunction against the newspaper. Interviewed on television, Couraud thanked Flosse for the "free publicity." "NEVER AGAIN! "The weather in Polynesia does not have the same consistency as elsewhere: it is only a succession of moments, one after another, ad infinitum, blending in a kind of eternity with no beginning and no end. "That is why events are like successive images of a movie on a...

france inter radio has broadcast fresh evidence on the JPK affair. UPDATE Second most popular radio station in the republic, France Inter has released a major investigation into the JPK Affair on the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of the former Pape'ete editor. Titled "Sharks in troubled waters - a counter-investigation into the JPK Affair" the programme sees fresh testimony from witnesses connected to the affair. Following below is a translation taken from the introductory webpage. "Sunday, December 16, 2007 "Sharks in troubled waters - a counter-investigation into the JPK Affair "10 years ago, during the night of 15 to 16 December 1997, the investigative journalist Jean-Pascal Couraud disappeared in mysterious circumstances in French Polynesia. "Under his byline JPK, Jean-Pascal Couraud denounced political, economic, and judicial scandals and abuses of power by Gaston Flosse, leader of French Polynesia for almost 30 years, protected by Jacque...

PRESS RELEASE > reporters sans frontieres 15 December 2007 The tenth anniversary of the disappearance of Jean-Pascal Couraud: Reporters Without Borders calls on the authorities not to betray the hopes of his family A few days before the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of the former editor of the Les Nouvelles in Tahiti, Jean-Pascal Couraud ( "JPK"), on December 15, 2007, Reporters Without Borders calls on the French authorities including the Justice minister, known as the the Keeper of Judicial Seals, Rachida Dati, to renew their commitment to establishing the truth about the exact circumstances of the death of the journalist. "Recent events allow us to believe that the investigation into the death of Jean-Pascal Couraud could move forward on a sound basis. Ten years after the fact, it is urgent, both from a moral and legal viewpoint, that the ins and outs of this case be brought out into the open. We call on French justice not to provide arguments to those who...

COMMITTEE UPDATE Soutien JPK released the following update earlier today, carried below in French. Papeete, le 19 octobre 2007 A tous les amis, membres et sympathisants du Comité de soutien, Les éléments déjà recueillis montrent que l’enquête doit être poursuivie Comme indiqué dans notre dernier communiqué du mois de septembre 2007, nous avons pris connaissance ces dernières semaines du dossier d’enquête que le juge d’instruction Philippe Stelmach se propose de clore en l’état. Comme nous nous y attendions, la lecture du dossier d’instruction montre bien au contraire la réelle nécessité de poursuivre l’enquête. Les principaux éléments sur lesquels se fonde un tel constat sont les suivants : 1- Les nombreuses contradictions et mensonges avérés de certains proches de Jean-Pascal Couraud sur le déroulement précis de la dernière soirée passée à son domicile : leur mise en évidence lors des gardes à vue réalisées en début d’année 2007 nécessite de nouvelles invest...

FOLLOW UP Who killed JPK? Rue89 reports links between Couraud's disappearance and bank accounts held in Japan by the same politicians he was exposing. Judicial efforts in Tahiti towards investigating allegations of assassination of a former Pape'ete editor continue to stagger on. Latest news out of the French territory indicates that an investigating magistrate has declared there are no more witnesses to be heard regarding the disappearance of Jean-Pascal Couraud, on 15th December 1997. Meantime, a French language news site gives the connections between Couraud and documents he was carrying at the time of his alleged kidnapping by French-trained security agents. A Tahiti, le "compte japonais" invoqué dans une sombre histoire | Rue89 Translation to come shortly : other links clearstream dwarfs enron tahiti link to trillion dollar fraud letter to justice minister grabs French media letter from jpk committee clearstream fallout goes galactic

NEWS Papers held by journalist Jean Pascal Couraud in his 1997 kidnapping and murder may be linked to an emerging scandal involving us$1.5 trillion in fraud. The Clearstream scandal is the world's biggest yet. Clearstream is the world's biggest clearing bank, verifying 70 per cent of foreign payments between banks. The same afternoon he disappeared, Couraud was seen holding a dossier seven centimetres thick. Just a few papers show former presidents Gaston Flosse and Jacques Chirac with US$70 billion in a Japan bank, now being linked to Clearstream fraud.

OPEN LETTER The following letter was sent from the JPK Support Committee at 17:29, dated 2nd July 2007, concerning an ongoing inquiry into the alleged assassination of former Pape'ete editor Jean Pascal Couraud. Original French has been translated, fairly roughly, into English by avaiki news agency. --------------------------------------------- June 26, 2007 For all our friends and sympathizers of the committee of support, a progress report on the case. Attached: Letter dated June 20, 2007 Minister of Justice Article Liberation of June 25, 2007 According to our sources, gendarmes have finished their investigations relating to the letter of inquiry with which they had been charged, and are about to pass the whole case to the examining magistrate. The lawyer which worked with Jean-Pascal Couraud at the time of his disappearance has just lodged our application. The examining magistrate could then propose instruction from any time now seeking quick closure, so the whole investigation ...

NEWS New President Nicholas Sarkozy is in the crosshairs of a magazine editor deeply concerned about continued activities by a man allegedly involved with the assassination of Jean-Pascal Couraud. In the May edition of Tahiti Pacifique magazine, editor Alex du Prel calls for an independent inquiry into what he describes as "two generations" of territorial rule by "oligarchy." Not named, but identified is former GIP head Leonard "Rere" Puputauki, a man among many said to operate with "impunity" despite breaking dozens of French laws - language mirrored by a UNESCO declaration calling for aid to be tied to media freedoms. SEE Open letter to presidential candidates Medellin Declaration from UNESCO media convention

Links to Radio New Zealand stories on disappearance of French Polynesian journalist Jean Pascal Couraud and issues surrounding what has become known as the JPK affair. 18th November 2004 Complaint over treatment of witness in French Polynesia disappearance case 19th November 2004 French Polynesia journalist disappearance case may re-open 13th December 2004 Judge in French Polynesia to hear evidence in case of journalist who disappeared 15th December 2004 Family of missing French Polynesian journalist wants murder probe 17th December 2004 French Polynesian president wants journalist disappearance case solved 9th February 2005 French TV programme jeopardises legality of French Polynesia election 21st February 2005 Family of disappeared French Polynesia journalist to meet judge after murder complaint lodged 23rd February 2005 Family of missing French Polynesian journalist lays complaint against Presidential GIP service 31st March 2005 French Polynesian leader lodges complaint of espionage...