YAREN – Two opposition MPs on Nauru are spending another week in custody as they continue to battle for legal representation.

The MPs, former president Sprent Dabwido and Squire Jeremiah, have been charged in connection with an anti-government protest outside parliament last month.

They appeared in court on Friday for their second attempt to secure bail.

The two MPs want a lawyer who is based in Australia to represent them, but the Nauru government continues to refuse the lawyer an entry visa.

The MPs have asked the Supreme Court to rule on their right to a lawyer of their choice, and will appear in court this Friday for their next bail hearing.

Another Nauruan politician is making a legal bid to be free to return to his family in New Zealand. Opposition MP Roland Kun was pulled off a New Zealand-bound plane by Nauru officials on June 17, had his passport cancelled as part of a series of incidents stemming from the protest at parliament nearly a month ago.

Kun was to appear in the Supreme Court of Nauru yesterday to challenge the cancellation of his passport, after a hearing last week was postponed.

He has not been charged with anything but authorities say he was involved in protests at parliament during which three opposition MPs were arrested and have left him trapped on the island indefinitely.

The Nauru government has called the protest a “riot”.

Kun denies any involvement.

Kun’s partner, Katy Le Roy, was last year fired as the island nation’s parliamentary counsel and had her residence status revoked. She now lives in Wellington with the couple’s three children and is banned from travelling to Nauru.

A fourth opposition politician, Mathew Batsiua, was to have appeared in court yesterday also to ask for a stay of proceedings after he was denied access to his lawyer.

He is out on bail on the condition he does not speak to media.

New Zealand and other regional neighbours have voiced their concerns about Nauru and potential abuses of human rights.

Last year, the Nauruan government suspended most of the opposition from parliament indefinitely. Local media are prohibited from speaking to the opposition.

The 10,000 inhabitants of the island nation of Nauru are now living under a virtual dictatorship, with no right to freely use the Internet or to engage in political protest.

The Nauru government has instituted a law designed to crack down on political comment and protests by asylum seekers about their conditions.

The crackdown appears to have been initiated by Nauru’s Justice Minister, David Adeang.

“These new laws could be used to muzzle dissenting opinions and deter human rights defenders, academics, journalists, students, politicians and civil society members,” said David Kaye, the United Nations special rapporteur for freedom of expression.

“Nauru should allow free space for expression without fear of criminal prosecution,” Kaye said. “It should lift all restrictions to access internet and social media, and facilitate access to the media in the country.”

A former Nauru magistrate who was exiled from the country in 2014 agreed.

“It’s the last vestige of democracy that’s just out the window,” Peter Law told The Guardian. “Freedom of speech is critical to any freely operating democracy. This is a clear attempt to stifle freedom of speech.”

The restrictions are coming as the Australian Broadcasting Company reported that Adeang and Nauru President Baron Waqa took thousands of dollars in bribes from Getax, an Australian phosphate dealer.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she spoke with President Waqa during the Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers meeting in Sydney on Friday.

“I sought assurances from him that the rule of law would be upheld, that the judiciary system would have integrity in its processes and that there would be fair dealing with the opposition members who had been either detained or charged,” Bishop told reporters.

“The president gave me assurances. We agreed to remain closely engaged on this matter.”

On Friday, New Zealand foreign minister Murray McCully said he had asked his ministry officials to go over concerns with Nauruan authorities before New Zealand would renew its aid funding which is due next month.

“New Zealand provides $1.2 million a year to Nauru to support the administration of justice. Nauru understands that we have a special interest in recent developments for this reason,” McCully said in a press statement following a meeting with Waqa.

“A functioning justice sector in Nauru is critically important, not just for the people of Nauru, but also for their role as an offshore processing centre for asylum seekers.

“I have asked ministry officials to complete discussions regarding our current concerns prior to the next tranche of New Zealand funding to Nauru, which is currently scheduled for August this year.”

“President Waqa vigorously disputed some aspects of recent international media reporting and gave his Government’s perspective on these events,” McCully said.

“On some of these issues we clearly disagree, and on others the president has offered to supply further information.”

In a statement, Waqa described his talks with McCully as “healthy”.

“It is clear that New Zealand is not happy with the detaining of Roland Kun who is unable to leave Nauru and travel to New Zealand to be with his family,” he said.

“We understand his concern, however I assured Mr McCully that Mr Kun and three other opposition MPs will have their time in court and be offered a fair trial after their arrest over last month’s parliament riot.”