Darwin Alderman Amye Un says the Mayor and Council CEO’s attempt this week to intimidate and silence her for criticising a Labor Minister is not the first time they have made false accusations against her, revealing a letter the Mayor wrote her last year in which he claimed the President of Timor-Leste had filed a formal complaint about her – a complaint he is unable to produce.

Ms Un, who was born in West Timor, was officially reprimanded in the letter from Darwin Mayor Kon Vatskalis dated September 19, 2022, in which he claimed he had “received” a “complaint” from Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta about Ms Un making the President uncomfortable during a visit to Darwin, but did not provide the actual complaint.

“Mr Ramos-Horta advised me that you approached his hotel room during his recent [Sept 2022] visit, representing yourself as acting on behalf of City of Darwin to discuss various matters with him,” Mr Vatskalis wrote.

“Mr Ramos-Horta was not comfortable with this direct and personal approach and your conduct is not in accordance with your conduct requirements as an elected member.”

Mr Vatskalis added that Ms Un had not been granted “approval” from council to approach Mr Ramos-Horta and forbid her from “approaching any foreign government official in that manner”.

However, Mr Vatskalis has failed to produce the complaint from Mr Ramos-Horta or explain why he thought it necessary to reprimand Ms Un for speaking to him.

He and Council chief executive Simone Saunders refused to respond to questions sent by the NT Independent yesterday, including a request to produce the official complaint.

Ms Un said Mr Vatskalis was “jealous” of her meeting with Mr Ramos-Horta in a personal capacity and that he and Ms Saunders had bullied and intimidated her in an effort to silence her twice now.

“For me, two times is enough,” she said.

“They’re using their power to attack small people. But remember, I’m elected member and I will fight for people and I continuing people’s voice.

“[They] can say to me, [Amye] you have broken English, yes, I am because I no born here. Amye, you ugly, yes I am, or Amye you poor. But don’t ever, ever put my morals under your feet and stomp on them.

“Because you know why so many people be bullied until they suicide. I have to stand up for this and [they] have to be stopped. Very nasty.”

Ms Un told the NT Independent that her family is well known throughout Timor and that she has high-ranking political friends and relatives who work in the governments of both East Timor and West Timor, who personally know Mr Ramos-Horta.

Ms Un said she was invited to meet with Mr Ramos-Horta after running into a Timorese presidential delegation while shopping at Casuarina Square on a Sunday last September. She said she had asked some members of the delegation if she could pass on her congratulations to Mr Ramos-Horta in person for his then-recent election victory, and they suggested she could meet with him at his hotel in Darwin City.

Ms Un said she had a roughly 10-minute meeting with him after clearing security. At the end of the discussion, she said she and Mr Ramos-Horta took a picture and exchanged personal contact details.

She said Mr Vatskalis’s claims that Mr Ramos-Horta sent a complaint about her were unfounded “lies” and that she later contacted the President’s office and was told no complaint was made.

The NT Independent was unable to reach Mr Ramos-Horta yesterday.

It was revealed earlier this week that Ms Saunders had written a letter accusing Ms Un of breaching the Local Government Act code of conduct for publicly criticising Labor Small Business Minister Paul Kirby and former alderman Paul Arnold, suggesting she take down a Facebook post critical of a Labor Government grant.

A complaint from any aggrieved party was not provided.

Mr Vatskalis also publicly criticised Ms Un for complaining about the $100,000 taxpayer grant Mr Arnold received to undertake works on his photography gallery in the CBD just weeks after being issued a domestic violence order. Mr Arnold is currently before court on a number of charges.

“Why have to be Arnold only,” she wrote on her personal Facebook page. “So that way so many small business be shuts down, because NO HOPE (sic).”

“NOW ON I LIKE TO MAKE A FRIEND WITH Mr Paul Kirby and others ZOMBIES, so I can get the Grand to (sic)…”

Mr Vatskalis claimed on Mix 104.9 that Ms Un was seeking a benefit when she wrote that she would befriend the “zombie” Mr Kirby to seek funds for her small business. Ms Un rejected the allegation and said she was frustrated the money was given to Mr Arnold while many small business owners were struggling.

She said that incident, mixed with the previous accusation that she had offended Mr Ramos-Horta, was too much too take.

“I just closed my eyes and let go, but for second time [they] do to me, I will open my eyes for justice. Because they are bullying me,” she said.

“I’m Timorese, he [Mr Ramos-Horta] is my people. Anyway, when his family, his brother, or when he come to West Timor they always hang around with my brother, sister, uncle, cousin, everything. So I respect him as a family member. What’s wrong [with that] to Kon Vatskalis? Jealous? This is because of jealousy.”

Ms Un said Mr Ramos-Horta had responded to Mr Vatskalis directly and told him to “clarify” what had happened and that the Mayor responded by telling him the “case is closed”.

Mr Vatskalis and Ms Saunders refused to respond to questions yesterday about the alleged complaint and whether Mr Ramos-Horta had contacted Council about the matter.