New complaints filed against Fiji broadcaster

FIJI – Three new police complaints have been filed against the chief executive of the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) accusing him of further inciting communal antagonism.

This comes after Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum called social media commentators “idiots” during a news conference.

Sayed-Khaiyum said he “would rather not comment about idiots” after being asked what he thought about the negative comments people were making about FBC online.

The FBC chief executive is already being investigated by police for an earlier complaint of inciting communal antagonism over his station’s language programme Wasea Bhasha.

Sayed-Khaiyum said there was nothing inciteful about the content and although the show’s host Nemani Bainivalu apologised, Sayed-Khaiyum sacked him last week after an internal FBC investigation found he had acted irresponsibly.

Kris Prasad, Ben Daveta and Seini Nabou each filed a complaint about the comments which Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum made. They said that they felt hurt and disgusted by the comments and said it was not what the expected from the head of the public broadcaster.

Meanwhile the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has confirmed that it has received the file from the Police on allegations of inciting communal antagonism through the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation programme, Wasea Bhasha.

- RNZI