WW2 planewreck documentarian held captive - needs help

[P Andersson]

"SOLOMON ISLANDS — December 10, 2007 — A young American, Justin Taylan, 30, of Hyde Park, New York, has been held captive five weeks since November 6, 2007 in the Solomon Islands, a tiny Pacific island nation off the east coast of Australia. Taylan is founder of a non-profit history website detailing World War II stories and Pacific theater airplane wrecks. Traveling by boat from Papua New Guinea, he hoped to explore relics from the Battle of Guadalcanal."

"Trial is set for December 12 and the maximum sentence is three years in jail."

"The grandson of World War II combat photographer Carl Thien, Taylan gained an appreciation for Pacific War air battles early on. As a teenager, he accompanied his grandfather on a return trip to Papua New Guinea to photograph wrecks in their original locations."

site for media help
http://taylandefensefund.org/jt/

sample of his work
http://www.theswampghost.com/video/then-now.html

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

On November 6, Taylan inadvertently stumbled upon a salvage operation underway at Ballale Island, part of the famous Battle of Guadalcanal. “There are more World War II plane wrecks there than anywhere else in the world,” Taylan said. “We saw six Zero fighters, a Val dive bomber and a Betty bomber being illegally removed. That’s why all this started.”

The group drew the attention of the salvagers. The Royal Solomon Island Police Force confiscated their passports, photos, and videotapes placing them in detention without charges. They have since been charged with illegally entering the country and pleaded innocent since they crossed borders through a published port of entry and in accordance with Solomon Islands law. Trial is set for December 12 and the maximum sentence is three years in jail.

In case someone was curious why they were arrested and deserved your attention. They weren't actually doing something illegal, they caught someone else doing something illegal. Someone else with government connections.

 

[Graeme Nattress]

Read the full article - sounds like trumped up charges.

Graeme

 

[Paul Leeming]

I used to fly in Papua New Guinea and have seen lots of these wrecks. Some of my pilot friends were into studying and preserving them as well.

Did you know there are aircraft wrecks on hilltops that can be seen from the air, but which have never been accessed and still have the dead crew inside?! That's how remote and inaccessible some of these historical wrecks are.

Anyway, it sounds to me like Taylan and his compatriots were probably trying to expose the people illegally removing the wrecks (which are worth big money to museums) and got caught in the act of filming them. Given the government of the Solomons is hardly the most stable in the world, and highly corrupt, it is more than likely that they were involved (or paid to turn a blind eye).

I expect that no amount of defence fund is going to help them, because that's not how these sorts of places work. The best way forward is probably to make a deal (read bribe) in exchange for leaving the country without the evidence/footage (and maybe cameras), but thereby staying out of prison. That's the best outcome for everyone - the government gets to stay "clean" in the public eye, Taylan et al get to go home, and the money continues to flow into whoever's coffers is financing this stuff. Is it right? No, but that's reality in that part of the world.

I wish them luck.

Paul