American Tourist Arrested in Solomons

[Edward]

Justin Taylan, founder of Pacific Wrecks website, was arrested last month along with three other tourists (Yohji Sakaida of Japan, Rod Pearce of Australia and Daisy Eliah of Papua New Guinea) in the town of Gizo on the island of Balalai (formerly Ballalae) in the Solomon Islands on charges of illegal entry.

On November 6 they inadvertently stumbled across a large salvage operation on Balalai. Apparently their presence brought unwanted attention to a group of salvors and local government officials who were attempting to remove several Japanese aircraft from the island. Justin states, “We saw six Zero fighters, a Val dive bomber and a Betty bomber being illegally removed. That’s why all this started.”

Charged with illegally entering the country they have pled innocent since they crossed borders through an official port of entry in accordance with Solomon Islands law. They face a possible sentence of three years.

The four have been held on Balalai for the past five weeks until the beginning of the trial on December 12. While they have been allowed to live aboard their boat but they are running out of food and money.

Their trial began on December 12 in Gizo Magistrate's Court. A webpage has been set up to provide information about the situation. You can read Justin's blog about the trial as well as numerous articles published in Solomon Islands newspapers about this incident.

http://taylandefensefund.org

The Japanese used Ballalae as an airbase in WWII. Some of the last intact, Japanese aircraft (on land) could be seen there until recently. Some proponents on Balalai have been pushing for the establishment of a WWII museum on the island to display the aircraft as a means to increase tourism which has the potential of benefiting a large number of people. Unfortunately, a few are more interested in a short sighted sell-off of the planes for their own quick financial gain. The disposition of the Japanese wrecks is unknown.

Edward