Journo wins war of words with Defence Force

Journalist Jon Stephenson has settled his defamation case against the former chief of the NZ Defence Force (NZDF), Lieutenant General Richard Rhys Jones, and the Defence Force.

The case revolved around an article Mr Stephenson wrote for Metro magazine in 2011 that subsequently won the Bayeux-Calvados Prize for War Correspondents and the top investigative award at the 2012 New Zealand Canon Media Awards.

In it, Mr Stephenson claimed Kiwi forces in Afghanistan had handed over detainees to authorities known to use torture.

The NZ Defence Force responded to the allegation with a press release saying an interview central to the article had been fabricated by Mr Stephenson, which prompted the journalist to sue for defamation.

According to a statement by Mr Stephenson, the long-running dispute was settled last week and the agreement includes “a payment as well as a retraction.”

The retraction is included in an official statement agreed upon by the two parties (see RAW DATA below).

The size of the payment, however, remains undisclosed.

Mr Stephenson had claimed $500,000 in damages.

“I can say that I am very happy and consider the outcome a victory,” Mr Stephenson has stated.

RAW DATA: 

Agreed Statement Between NZDF And Jon Stephenson

Thursday, 1 October 2015, 3:10 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Defence Force

Media Release

1 October 2015

AGREED STATEMENT BETWEEN NZDF AND JON STEPHENSON

In April 2011, Jon Stephenson published an article in Metro magazine entitled ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ about the New Zealand Special Air Service’s (SAS’s) involvement in Afghanistan. The article included a reference to Mr Stephenson gaining entry in April 2010 to the headquarters of the Afghan Ministry of Interior Crisis Response Unit (CRU) in Kabul and conducting an interview with the then-commander of the CRU.

On 2 May 2011, the then-Chief of New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), Lieutenant General Rhys Jones, issued a press statement on behalf of the NZDF challenging several aspects of the article. That statement suggested that Mr Stephenson had not gained entry to the CRU base and interviewed the CRU commander as reported in the article. Mr Stephenson believed these words were interpreted by some members of the public and media as meaning that Mr Stephenson had fabricated his report of the visit to the CRU base and his interview with the commander.

In September 2012, Mr Stephenson issued defamation proceedings against General Jones and the NZDF in relation to the statement. General Jones and the NZDF defended that proceeding. A jury trial was held in July 2013, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict. General Jones conceded after hearing evidence at the first trial, that Mr Stephenson did gain entry to the base and interviewed the CRU commander.

General Jones and the NZDF now accept that Mr Stephenson did in fact gain entry to the base and interviewed the CRU commander. They regret that their statement may have been interpreted as suggesting that this had not happened.

The parties have reached a settlement in this matter. This statement is issued as part of that settlement, which also includes a payment to Mr Stephenson.