Incautious Woman Teletypist

Breach Of P-Ng

Official Secrets

Savage Gaol Sentence For

Incautious Woman Teletypist

History of the less glorious variety was made in Port Moresby on August 31 when Miss Patricia Robert on an Administration employee in the local post-office, was sentenced to three months imprisonment for “disclosing the contents of an official radiogram” to a Sydney newspaper *

FEW European women have stood public trial in the Territory— and none, to our knowledge, have ever been required to serve gaol sentences there.

There was no accommodation for women at the Bomana Gaol, and what is locally called a “donga” was hurriedly erected for her within a matter of days.

Miss Robertson was the accredited representative of the Sydney Sun.

Her part-time work on this news paper’s behalf was known to the Administration and she is stated to have gathered news for the organ isation in an open manner.

Miss Robertson’s “lapse” con cerned the recent tribal murders in the Yellow River area of the Sepik, in which 28 natives are supposed

to have been killed. . Th i s ? ews reac hed Port Moresby about August 21 and was soon tri? i^ 0n « pr ? 1 perty - The Adminis tration finally made a statement, evidently a couple of hours after Robertson had “jumped the What the official release did not say—for reasons it is hard to find (see Editorial, p. 20)—was that the native murderers had removed the heads and fingers of some of their victims. But Miss Robertson, through her official duties, knew that this was what had happened, and informed the paper accordingly.

On this trivia she stood her trial and was sentenced to three months gaol.

A Crown Law Officer, prosecuting

at the trial, said that Robertson had previously sent stories to the Sun which had not been released by the Public Relations Office—one concerned dead turtles and the other a Japanese fishing ship. (The turtles referred to presumably mean the dead turtles that were mysteriously washed up on the islands off NE Papua in June—it was thought they might have been victims of radio-activity).

Magistrate O’Driscoll, who sentenced Miss Robertson, said that her behaviour was a flagrant breach of the criminal code and the Oath

of Secrecy that every Post Office employee took—and that he had never before heard of a more seri ous breach. He suggested that if she had not been detected she might ultimately have done the Adminis tration or a private individual great harm.

Mr. C. Kirke, who defended Miss Robertson, gave notice of intention to appeal against the severity of the sentence, but it was later dis covered that there was no legal machinery for this, Miss Robertson has, of course, also been dismissed the Service.