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Source: ONE News -
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The New Zealand Defence Force intends to take action against the New Zealand Herald after it published a photo of two SAS soldiers on duty in Afghanistan.
One of the soldiers was Victoria Cross winner Willie Apiata.
The photograph of a bearded Apiata and another New Zealand soldier was taken by photographer Philip Poupin and published in The New Zealand Herald on Thursday.
Apiata's identity has been confirmed by Prime Minister John Key, who says he is disappointed by the Herald's action and is concerned for the safety and the lives of New Zealand's elite soldiers.
Defence Force spokesman commander Shaun Fogarty says up until now there has been an understanding that the media does not publish photos of soldiers on overseas operations as it poses a major security risk.
He says the Defence Force's relationship with the media has been dented by the publication and trust has been broken.
Key says no decision has been made on whether the two soldiers will now leave Afghanistan.
"I think it's unlikely that Willie Apiata would return to New Zealand before the end of this rotation. At the end of the day, people knew he was in the SAS and there was always the chance people might take the view that he might be back there."
"Certainly if he wanted to come home now, we would allow him to.
"He's probably the most high profile New Zealand member of the SAS and his face has been plastered across the world's media."
Key says the publication of the photograph has put Apiata's life and the lives of other SAS soldiers at risk, and he has described it as a poor editorial decision by the Herald.
"I'm very disappointed about The New Zealand Herald's decision to publish the photograph of New Zealand SAS soldiers. It would have been preferable if they'd taken a decision to black out their faces," he says.
"People were aware that Willie Apiata chose to stay on in the SAS, that was a decision he made after he was awarded the Victoria Cross, and the quite considerable publicity that he got as a result of that tremendous honour.
Key thinks Apiata and the other soldier pictured will be aware the photographs have been published.
The New Zealand Herald has told ONE News it did not realise who was in the photo at the time of publication.
Its assistant editor says the decision was made purely on news value because it was members of the SAS in a public place without disguise.
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Add a Comment:
Post new commentGetrealpeps said on 2010-01-27 @ 16:34 NZDT: Report abusive post
The soldiers there have enough on their plate without having to watch their backs even further. Why not paint a big target on NZ for radicals after highlighting that we absolutely irrefutebly have SAS on ops. Perhaps they should bring Willy back and have him explain face to face to the photographer and NZ Herald.
iwiknz said on 2010-01-26 @ 23:49 NZDT: Report abusive post
what a dumb thing to say that he should be careful about photos taken of him did he ask the photographer to take it and then stand and pose for the picture knowing that he and others could be put in danger
joev said on 2010-01-26 @ 19:06 NZDT: Report abusive post
I am an ex Soldier and believe that this is both careless and thoughtless for the press to even consider publishing pictures that would identify our SAS personnel. How do you stop a soldier? the greatest weapon the enemy have is their family, Parents, Siblings, Spouses, Children. If they are prepared to take their battle to the USA what makes you think they won't bring it to NZ. we already have moslems in NZ which of them are radical enough to attack the families of our soldiers serving overseas
Veteran44 said on 2010-01-23 @ 13:24 NZDT: Report abusive post
Publication of the photograph was very wrong. Obviously the people resonsible have never been in a dangerous situation while in service to their Country. It would be very easy to obtain the location of his Family and then it needs only one fanatic to cause them harm. Hopefully the Army will ensure their ongoing protection. I suppose the guilty Editors are proud of their dangerous and I believe, treasonable actions.
molynz said on 2010-01-23 @ 10:20 NZDT: Report abusive post
Being compromised in theatre is completely unacceptable. Special forces rely on a covert presence to work effectively so this is totally irresponsible by the media.