---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Transcript Australian Broadcasting Corp. The World Today Thursday, September 2, 1999 12:47 p.m. Fischer defends his role in helping Channel Nine in E Timor COMPERE: Well, Tim Fischer has been telling parliament this morning of his role in assisting Channel Nine to get camera tapes out of East Timor. He says it's in no way compromised his position as leader of the Australian observer team to East Tmor, but during his explanation Mr Fischer also castigated the 60 Minutes reporter, Richard Carleton, for irresponsible and reckless behaviour. Late this morning I spoke to Mr Fischer. COMPERE: Mr Fischer, could you please explain to us the apparent dichotomy where on one hand you're castigating Carleton for his reckless behaviour, on the other you're helping him to bring the camera tapes out for people to see in Australia? TIM FISCHER: That's a fair question and, as Richard has kindly revealed that, I'm very happy to explain what happened. In the Liquica police station, Richard was being interviewed by a member of the militia in very aggressive threatening terms. We negotiated that we'd bring them back from the hot spot of Liquica to Dili, but on the basis we took them straight to the Dili police station. The Second Secretary did a good job in that regard. We came back in that convoy. I had Richard in my car. I had a tense discussion with him but it was brief, it was restricted. We had East Timorese in the car. We rolled into the Dili police station. There was talk about, it became apparent to me that the tapes were there. I had four options; one, diplomatic bag, no way; two, RAAF aircraft, no way; three, send them into the police station with Richard Carlton and, as a fellow Australian, I didn't think that was wise, but it also might have fallen into the hands of the militia; or four, get them by some way back to the Hotel Dili, and that's the option I chose. COMPERE: So, you feel an obligation to assist journalists, Australian journalists, in the pursuit of their careers? TIM FISCHER: No, to assist Australia in getting those tapes to hell out of that compound and also to make sure that militia did not get the tapes directly and see people on those tapes saying how they're going to vote, because that would have been a death warrant for those people at Liquica. In April, 50 of them were killed by the militia in the Catholic Church compound in the middle of Licqica. COMPERE: Obviously a very hard and difficult choice for you. Do you feel that it now leaves you open to charges that, should you have to go back there in the future, that your impartiality, your neutral stance, is somehow diminished? TIM FISCHER: I'm happy to lay those four options between, before the people of Australia and before any authority, and even before Indonesian authority, because we had to diffuse the situation. We had to get the Australian observer delegation out of the Dili police compound. I mean, things are very fragile up there and this was a case of doing what was in the overall interests, and I make no apology for it and I had no right to destroy the material. I did not own the material. And, yes, there's that risk but I'll back my integrity, a split second decision in the melee, and I just hope and feel for the lives of Australians still working at Licqica right this day. COMPERE: Tim Fischer was speaking to me earlier today. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 2 Sep 1999 jam 09:02:53 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
