The Nauru Government has rejected a claim that it’s mistreating two of the 19 defendants charged over the 2015 riots at Parliament House.
The accusations were made by former justice minister Mathew Batsiua about actions by the Nauru Health Department.
There were claims that the Minister for Health ordered the Director of Health to deny access to Nauru’s de-compression chamber for injured diver Rutherford Jeremiah are untrue.
The government said Mr Batsiua’s comments bring into question where the information was sourced from, as there was no directive of this kind from the Minister. Whatever the source, it was unreliable.
The government said the Nauru Health Department would never deny medical treatment to any person on Nauru, and any suggestion to the contrary is abhorrent.
“Mr Batsiua also falsely claimed that Nauru 19 member Sprent Dabwido is overseas waiting for cancer treatment that the Government of Nauru is yet to authorise, despite clinical approval being given back in April.”
The government said the Nauru Health Department follows a rigorous process for all Overseas Medical Referrals (OMR).
“Mr Dabwido had been approved for an OMR in July 2018 with the referral underway, however during the process he chose to relocate to Australia, opting to organise the referral externally without the assistance of the Nauru Health Department.”
“Mr Batsiua’s false claims that the Government of Nauru is ‘blacklisting’ the 19 defendants are completely incorrect, unfounded, and clearly politicised. The Nauru Health Department treats everyone equally and follows the same procedures for all,” the government said in a statement.