MP Batsiua gagged while on bail

YAREN – THE suspended Nauru MP and former justice minister, Mathew Batsiua, who was arrested earlier in the week, was given bail after appearing in court this week with strict conditions, meaning he will be back in custody if he does anything to offend the government.

Batsiua was arrested on Tuesday during a protest outside parliament over the continued suspension of himself and four other Opposition MPs.

He is due to appear in court again on July 8, charged with disrupting Parliament.

The government has claimed he disrupted the institution during protests earlier this week.

The MP was held in custody for two nights and charged on Thursday before being released on what he says are extensive bail conditions. I have had to surrender my passport to prevent travel out of the country. I have to stay within my residence from the hours of 6pm to 6am.

“I can’t communicate with the other MPs who were involved in the protest. Those kinds of things. I also have to report to police one a week, every Friday.”

Meanwhile, another of the five suspended MPs, Roland Kun, had his passport confiscated on Wednesday and he was also refused a renewal of his passport.

Kun spends most of his time in Wellington in New Zealand because his Australian-born wife has been denied a Nauru visa. No explanation has been given.

Meanwhile, reporting of what is now being called a “political crisis” on Nauru is mostly being undertaken by long distance journalism.

Radio New Zealand and Radio Australia are covering events without reporters on the ground, relying on telephone communication with eyewitnesses and the MPs involved.

International journalists are effectively banned from Nauru after the imposition US$7000 non-refundable visa application fee, which effectively has curtained the island nation off from media scrutiny.

Moves to shut down social media such as Facebook has made it even more difficult to access information from those involved in the volatile politics currently taking place.