The leaders of this tiny State in the South Pacific are not bothered by the lack of any independent press. However, they do not appreciate foreign journalists investigating money laundering and corruption.

On 6 August 2001 the Nauru government prevented Michael Field, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent based in New Zealand, from covering the South Pacific sixteen-nation summit in the Nauru capital, Yaren, from 14 to 21 August 2001. This decision may be due to the journalist's publication of articles on relations between some island authorities and the Russian Mafia, as well as money laundering. This small insular State is considered to be a tax haven, and is on the list of "non-cooperative" countries drawn up by the OECD for the fight against money laundering. Michael Field told Reporters Without Borders that this ban "targets him personally" and not the AFP. The New Zealand government officially protested to the President of Nauru, René Harris. At a press conference during the summit, Harris justified the banning of Michael Field: "We must show solidarity with our brothers of the Pacific, Tonga and Kiribati." During the two previous summits organised by these countries, Field had also been declared persona non grata.

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