jpk update

. . . NEWS A Tahiti spy wrote he would be murdered to cover up a mafia-style drowning, just off the coast of the capital of French Polynesia. “I know that I will be killed,” reads a letter, unsigned, undated. Attributed to Vetea Cadousteau, the letter outlines how he and three other men allegedly assassinated a former Pape’ete editor in 1997. The body of investigative journalist Jean-Pascal Couraud has never been found. Cadousteau was discovered dead in a river in 2004. Widespread speculation year after year links circumstantial evidence about the deaths to a vast banking scandal, Clearstream, well known among French media audiences, almost unknown in English circles, involving a dossier said to have been hidden by Couraud at his family home. Yesterday’s edition of Le Monde published quotes from the letter about the killing of the investigative journalist, Jean-Pascal Couraud, known as JPK. Initial analysis of the hand written letter returned inconclusively. Follow up tests to authenti...

An undated, hand-written letter outlining the abduction, torture and killing of a former Pape’ete editor was found at the home of a former French Polynesia president. Police officers found the letter in a drawer during a raid on Flosse’s home in September 2008. News of the find only emerged today. Gaston Flosse at first refused comment, according to a report from AFP, later issuing a statement labelling the allegations “scandalous.” Author of the letter is said to be Vetea Cadousteau, a former member of a secret spy cell who died in “very disturbing” circumstances, according to lawyers for a support committee of the editor, Jean-Pascal Couraud. Handwriting analysis of the letter was “inconclusive”, said laywers James Lau and Max Gatti in a statement for Soutien JPK. Further testing is needed to confirm the author of the letter of testimony, several pages long. Lawyers for Flosse, a member of the French senate, dismissed the letter as a “set up”, part of a “plot”. The ...

a photocopy sign for a meeting of the support committee for missing journalist, jean-pascal couraud. NEWS Police in French Polynesia have seized documents from the offices and home of the former lawyer for long missing journalist Jean-Pascal Couraud. The search was ordered by prosecutor Jean Bianconi after Jean-Dominique Des Arcis was questioned by investigating magistrate Jean-François Redonnet. Radio New Zealand International reports Des Arcis was questioned two days after the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of Couraud for making conflicting statements. RADIO EXPOSE The search was the first fallout from a controversial expose carried by France Inter, the second most popular radio station in France, according to a report from Rue 89, a French language news website. Among others, France Inter interviewed Des Arcis who, for the first time, declared that he did not think the disappeareance of "JPK" was suicide - contradicting earlier statements. The family had previous...

TRIBUTE by jason brown, editor, avaiki nius agency It was, as promised, a small and simple ceremony. Gathered around an empty grave, tombstone in place, friends of the Couraud family, about 20 in all. "This is the time he was ..." The mother of Jean-Pascal Couraud pauses, searching her French memory for the right word in English. Kidnapped? "Yes, kidnapped," agrees his mother, stepping across the syllables carefully, like a goat on a mountain, fearful not of the plunge, but of forgetting to be careful. "... the time he was kidnapped at this very hour, exactly ten years ago." She peers upwards as she speaks, a small women for such enormous memories, shadows of frangipani falling across her shoulders, children surfing on even smaller waves in the background. As happens so often in all our lives, she begins to say more but is distracted by a comforting hand. Did he surf here too? JPK's brother glances across his brother's empty grave, past other tombs...

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...

NEWS RELEASE Two French media giants are marking the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of former Pape'ete editor, Jean-Pascal Couraud, with independent investigations. Second most popular in French radio, France Inter and leading daily newspaper Le Monde are both set to release indepth reports into allegations of assassination. Reportage seems sure to increase pressure on authorities previously foot dragging their way through official inquiries, now in their third year. Couraud disappeared nearly one decade ago, on Monday night of 15th December 1997. MAFIA Initial findings of suicide remained unchallenged until October 2004. Vetea Guilloux, a presidential security agent, told the administration of Oscar Temaru, then new, about widespread espionage activities in his surveillance section. Including, allegedly, overhearing colleagues boast about the mafia-style drowning of the investigative journalist - known by his byline "JPK". Like Watergate, L'Affair JPK is beco...

Papeete, le 5 décembre 2007 A tous les amis, membres et sympathisants du Comité de soutien, Tenue de notre assemblée générale annuelle Tous les membres et sympathisants du Comité de soutien sont cordialement invités à notre assemblée générale annuelle qui se tiendra le mardi 11 décembre 2007 à 17h30 à l'hôtel Shératon de Faaa afin de délibérer sur les points ci-dessous inscrits à l'ordre du jour : 1. Situation et contenu du dossier d'enquête 2. Examen des comptes de l'association 3. Renouvellement du bureau 4. Questions diverses Rendez-vous avec la presse A tous nos amis résidant en France, nous rappelons la diffusion sur France Inter de l'émission « Interception » réalisée par Benoît Collombat, le dimanche 16 décembre à 9h10 heure française. France Inter étant retransmis en direct sur RFO Polynésie toutes les nuits (à partir de 22h00 le samedi), cette émission pourra être également écoutée le samedi 15 décembre à 22 heures 10 en Polynésie f...

COMMUNIQUE soutienjpk.org Papeete, December 5, 2007 To all the friends, members and supporters of the Support Committee, Hosting of our AGM All members and sympathisers of the Support Committee are cordially invited to our annual general meeting to be held Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at 17:30 at the Hotel Sheraton in Fa'aa to deliberate on the following items listed on the agenda : 1. Situation report and contents in the inquiry dossier. 2. Examination of accounts of the association 3. Renewal of office bearers 4. Other business Rendevouz with the Press To all our friends residing in France, we remind you of the dissemination on France Inter radio of the programme "Interception" by Benedict Collombat, Sunday, December 16th at 9:10am French time. France Inter being broadcast live on RFO Polynesia every night (from 22:00 Saturday), the program can also be heard Saturday, Dec. 15 at 22:10am in French Polynesia, day of the tenth anniversary of the death of Jean-Pascal Couraud...

Court rulings favour continuation of an investigation into the disappearance of a former Pape'ete journalist nearly ten years ago - with promises from the still new Sarkozy government to look into the details, reports Tahitipresse. NEWS from Tahiti Press Agency JPK Affair: Support Committee welcomes decisions from the Chamber of Instruction (Tahitipresse) - The Support Committee for the search for the truth about the disappearance of Jean-Pascal Couraud "welcomes, in a statement, two recent decisions by the Chamber of Investigation, in Papeete, in the case of the disappearance of journalist Jean-Pascal Couraud, in December 1997." The first decision concerns, according to the support committee, "the assent of the Chamber of Instruction to ensure that records are kept of the material seized from General Rondot (i.e., in connection with the Clearstream affair, in metropolitan France) referring to Japanese bank accounts (i.e., assumed to belong to the former President...

Philippe Couraud, above , heads a support committee for missing journalist Jean-Pascal Couraud - today hoping for a decision on their appeal against the closing off of evidence in an official investigation into allegations of assassination. An English translation of an update sent to members of the JPK support committee, features below. .................................................................................................... Papeete, October 19, 2007 To all the friends, members and supporters of the Support Committee: Evidence already collected shows that the investigation should be pursued As indicated in our last release in September 2007, we have seen in recent weeks that investigatory judge, Philippe Stelmach, proposes to close off evidence for the State case. As we expected, a reading of the investigation file shows quite the opposite is very necessary: to continue the investigation. Principal elements underpinning such a finding are as follows: 1 - Many contradictions...

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 French media are widely reporting a letter to the minister of Justice in France from the family of former Pape'ete editor Jean-Pascal Couraud. Sent in late June, the letter raises the JPK affair to a new level in French national affairs. No word yet on any response from the minister, but increasingly pointed commentary draws clear links between Couraud's allegations of suicide are being overtaken by detailed claims from all sorts of sources. What follows is one such story. Close relations of Jean-Pascal Couraud, an investigative journalist who “committed suicide” in mysterious circumstances in 1997, in Tahiti, claimed today that his death is “most probably” related to the “Chirac bank account in Japan .” They have written to Justice minister Rachida Dati. In this letter, they lay stress, on all syllables, on a possible link between the disappearance of the journalist and the investigations which he then carried out, concerning “financial transfers from French Polynesia to ...

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

TF1 DOCUMENTARY “TROUBLED WATERS IN TAHITI” PRESENTER 1: And now the story of Jean-Pascale Couraud. He was 37 when he disappeared leaving a family in pain and despair. It was on the 15th December 1997 near Papeete in French Polynesia. Jean Pascale Couraud alias JPK - the initials this journalist signed to vitrolic articles for years, critical of Gaston Flosse - the powerful head of the territory for over 30 years. JPK had become too embarrassing asserts a man today. PRESENTER 2 His name is Vetea Guilloux, member of the GIP - the Polynesian Intervention Group - set up the day after the protests of 1995. He states that he was part of a spy cell, charged with keeping tabs on opponents of Gaston Flosse. On the 15th of December 1997 he followed Jean-Pascale Couraud. And when he disappeared, Vetea accuses two members of the GIP of kidnapping and killing him after a botched interrogation. PRESENTER 1 But did Gaston Flosse, former secretary of state, former president of the territorial assembl...