Prominent Fijians detained for holding meeting

FIJI – Six of Fiji’s senior opposition figures have been released by police without charges, over comments they made about the country’s constitution.

Mahendra Chaudhry, former prime minister and Fiji Labour leader, was one of the six detained after attending a discussion forum on the nation’s constitution.

He said his arrest would not stop him from speaking his mind in the future.

“Well what happened is really absurd, I think it doesn’t do any credit to the government,” he said. “It’s a very, very sad situation, but that is how it is in Fiji these days.

“The opposition parties have a duty to the citizens of this country to fight against this repression. We want to create an environment here where people are free to express their opinions.

“But if we promote a culture of silence here and curb freedoms, no, that’s not the way that I see Fiji can progress.”

Police said they were investigating whether critical comments made at the invite-only gathering last week “could affect the safety and security of all Fijians”.

Fiji’s Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, has defended the detention of the six prominent Fijians.

He said the Public Order Act required any group wanting to hold a public meeting to apply for a police permit before the proposed event and this had not happened.

He said none of the human rights of the people who were detained had been breached.

The leader of Fiji’s National Federation Party said Fiji’s government is pretending if it thinks it oversees a democracy.

Biman Prasad, who was one those detained over the weekend, said he has participated in countless public and private functions since being elected in 2014 and it’s his duty to do so, as he is accountable to the people who elected him.

“We see this as part of a normal functioning democracy,” he said.

“If political leaders are not allowed to do that then you cannot call it a functioning democracy, let alone genuine democracy.”

Prasad’s NFP boycotted the first day of the new parliament session on Monday because it said it was making a stand against the continuing political persecution of the opposition and the draconian muzzling of free speech and assembly.

Union leader and lawyer Attar Singh said he will lodge a complaint with the International Labour Organisation over his interrogation by police last weekend.

Singh said Fiji had told the ILO it would not use the Public Order Decree against unionists.

He said the police broke that agreement: “It shouldn’t be happening at all. We are surprised it is still happening after the 2014 elections.

“The expectation was that after the 2014 elections, now that the government has got absolute control of governance in parliament, that they would start acting in a more relaxed manner.”

Police also detained academic Dr Tupeni Baba, the organiser of the forum, Jone Dakuvula, head of the non government organisation Pacific Dialogue – and the new leader of the main opposition party Sodelpa, Sitiveni Rabuka.

“Because it was Constitution Week, we thought it was a good time for us to focus on it and that’s what we did but that’s probably not what the authorities thought.”

The Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific has expressed concern over the matter and called for full respect for freedom of speech and freedom of assembly in Fiji.

Bainimarama said it was disappointing that elements of the international community, without any objectivity, had issued statements of concern about the detention and questioning of Fijians who had allegedly contravened the country’s laws.

The leader of the opposition, Ro Teimumu Kepa, said Bainimarama’s ruling Fiji First Party can meet whenever it wants and does not have to apply for permits.

Fiji Police have alleged the men, who say they were holding a private meeting, may have been discussing an issue that threatened the country’s security.

They were all released after about 30 hours in custody and so far no charges have been brought. - PNC sources