Key witness for prosecution in Moti case dies

SUSAN MERRELL

Aripaea Salmon, father of the alleged victim in the Julian Moti case died on the island of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu on Sunday 20 March of a heart attack.

Just three days earlier on March 17, in a videoed interview, he signalled his and his family’s intentions to cease co-operating with the Australian prosecution of Moti.

Asked if he, his wife or his daughter intended to travel to Australia to testify, he replied, “no”.

Salmon stated that he had been “swept along” in a case not of his choosing and over which his family had little control. He said the child-sex tourism charges with which Moti had been charged had been presented to the family as a fait accompli and that none of his family had made any subsequent complaint after the case was settled in Vanuatu. He said the Australian Federal Police (AFP) told them that if they did not cooperate it would “go against them.”

He also admitted that he could not be sure that the offences with which Moti was charged actually occurred. With the family facing deportation he said his daughter could have been motivated by a misguided idea that she was saving the family from this fate.

Salmon stated that when he eventually realised that the motivations for the prosecution were political, he was “disgusted’ that “the mighty Australian government” should use a small girl in such a way. He described his family as being “crushed” and ‘broken” by the case and he laid the blame at the Australian government of the time under John Howard.

Salmon said he repeatedly asked for a lawyer- preferably bi-lingual (Salmon’s first language is French) when the AFP first contacted the family and was denied. He also stated that the AFP had coached the family in what to say in their statements for the prosecution.

Salmon went on to record an apology to his family, Julian Moti’s family “especially his mother” and the governments of the Pacific who had been hurt by this case.

In particular he apologised to Sir Michael Somare and the people of Papua New Guinea and to Manasseh Sogavare who he praised for his efforts to protect Moti.

Salmon claimed he wanted the case to end and for his family to be left in peace.
“I am sick,” he said “I don’t know how much time I have left. This case has to stop.”

It’s unlikely he envisaged just how little time was left for him.

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