Media join in opposing Bainimarama Chris Merritt - February 29, 2008

From “The Australian”

AS dictators go, Frank Bainimarama is turning out to be his own worst enemy.

Frank Bainimarama suspened Fiji’s Chief Justice. Picture: AP
Every move he makes seems designed to draw attention to the fact that Fiji is in the hands of a despot who has little time for democracy, the rule of law, judicial independence and freedom of speech.

Last week he further alienated legal opinion when he prevented Australian lawyer Felicia Johnston and a delegation from the International Bar Association from visiting his domain.

This week he picked a fight with the world’s media by deporting Fiji Sun publisher Russell Hunter.

Hunter had barely touched down in Australia when the international lobby group Reporters Without Borders lined up with the IBA to condemn Fiji’s increasingly erratic behaviour.

“Hunter’s expulsion is unacceptable and contrary to all of the Fiji Government’s international undertakings,” said the press freedom organisation.

“This arbitrary decision deprives the Fiji Sun of its publisher and managing editor and sends a disturbing signal to other Fijian journalists thinking of publishing information that could upset the authorities.

“We call on the Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, to reverse this decision and to allow Hunter to resume working in Fiji.”

The IBA and Reporters Without Borders are the latest organisations who have been unable to ignore this man’s behaviour. His conduct has caused him problems with the United Nations, the European Union, the Pacific Islands Forum and the government of Australia - under both Howard and Rudd.

Consider his record: since the coup that brought him to power in 2006 Bainimarama has suspended Fiji’s chief justice and appointed a replacement who has so much respect among lawyers that six expatriate judges - Australians and New Zealanders - resigned; he has excluded lawyers who wanted to enter Fiji to work on cases that he found threatening; his bully boys have beaten critics of his regime; and there have been three deaths in police or military custody since the coup.

Johnston and Hunter grabbed Australia’s attention, but the people of Fiji have suffered far more.

Chief justice Daniel Fatiaki was suspended from duties in January last year for what was alleged to be misconduct.

Since then, the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption has struggled to find any substance in the allegations again Fatiaki.

The charges against the chief justice were failure to uphold the dignity of his office and, of all things, failure to remain independent of the executive.

Fatiaki has been fighting back. He is currently challenging his suspension, the constitutionality of the Fiji Judicial Services Commission and the appointment by the Fiji regime of an acting chief justice - a man called Gates.

Fiji’s ousted prime minister, Laisenia Qarase, is also fighting back. His proceedings against the regime started in September last year. Bainimarama lodged a counter-claim alleging that Qarase had failed to keep the president informed of issues relating to the governance of Fiji.

That case was postponed late last year by Gates when Qarase’s lawyer brought expanded charges. The case had been due to resume this month. It has not.

Bottom line: Fiji’s former prime minister is tackling the dictatorship in the courts and the courts - under Gates - are going slow.

Then there is the case of Ballu Khan, the New Zealand citizen who is alleged to have plotted to assassinate Bainimarama. Khan was detained on November 3 last year and severely beaten.

On January 8, after Khan was released from hospital, he was charged with three counts of conspiracy. That case has not proceeded.

The composition of the courts has been severely affected by the post-coup regime. Six expatriate judges resigned from the Fiji Court of Appeal on September 3 last year citing concern over the way Gates was administering the court system.

Another expatriate judge, Roger Coventry, resigned from the Fiji High Court on January 9, citing a deterioration in the relationship with Gates.

There have been other matters of concern. In October last year eight soldiers and one policeman were alleged to have been involved in a beating that led to the death of a Fiji citizen. Those involved attempted to leave Fiji for a UN military deployment in Iraq. They were stopped at the airport by police after the local media and an organisation known as the Pacific Centre for Public Integrity raised concerns about their departure from the jurisdiction.

There have been three deaths in police or military custody since the 2006 coup. There have also been several cases in which critics of the regime have been verbally or physically abused.

None of the cases against those who are alleged to be responsible for those attacks has been concluded.

In June last year, Australian lawyer John Cameron was prevented from entering Fiji and was deported to Australia. He had been due to appear on June 26 in the Fiji High Court on behalf of pro-democracy activist

Angie Heffernan.

Heffernan is executive director of the Suva-based Pacific Centre for Public Integrity - the same organisation that later raised concerns about the planned departure from the jurisdiction of police and soldiers who were allegedly responsible for a fatal beating.

Heffernan had taken proceedings against Bainimarama, the Royal Fijian Military Force and the interim Attorney-General.

Cameron had also been due to appear for the Fiji Law Society in its application against the appointment of Gates. Cameron, who also holds New Zealand citizenship, is based in Perth. He has been a strong critic of the regime.

One of the strangest developments involved the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement and the Fiji Sun newspaper. These organisations were summoned before the Court of Appeal on February 12 after the Sun had published a statement from the women’s group.

That statement had criticised appointments to the Fiji Court of Appeal. There were no formal proceedings but, in open court, the two organisations were simply chastised.

The Australian government raised its concerns about Fiji with the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on three occasions last year.

The Pacific Islands Forum extracted an undertaking from Bainimarama in October that he would hold elections in the first quarter of 2009.

But his actions, as opposed to his words, are causing concern across the globe.

The European Union has activated a provision of what is known as the Cotonou Agreement on development co-operation. This means the EU is holding back development assistance to Fiji’s sugar industry until democracy is restored.

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KEEP IT COMING - GET ALL THE LOWDOWN ON vore, Fingers Levu, Fingers Lailai & rest of the co conspirators - me qai GIN & TONOKA for some - GIN & PONOKA for others.

The NLTB Board has just rejected the Consultants Report

By Dr M Krisnamurthi to dereserve all Native Reserves.

Rather strange considering that the Pig is his capacity as Minister for (uuhumm) Native Affairs chairs this Board with Jo Mirror as President of the Board.

Do I detect a backtrack. Vinaka mo kida tiko boy!!

Press Release from Ro Filipe Tuisawau, Rewa.

The Regime has broken nearly every provision in the UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous People and the latest was when they used Nukulau Island to test fire their mortars. That act was inciteful and heaping insult on insult after the insults to our chiefs especially the Roko Tui Dreketi.

The mortar tests in the qoliqolis of the Vanua of Burebasaga in the domain of the Roko Tui Dreketi was a breach of protocol and also Article 30 of the UN DRIP which restricts military activity on indigenous territories unless the people consented. 

Such acts should be conducted on Chaudry’s or Voreqes lands or qoliqoli if they have any. 

With the abuses and destruction of tradition, culture and institutions of the Fijian people including the GCC,  it is important the we the Fijian people and chiefs exercise restraint at all times and and be non violent. 

At the end of the day, history has shown that the Godly qualities of truth, honesty, righteousness will always triumph over deceit, greed and the way of the gun. 

When all this is over, we Fijians must examine ways and means that will ensure that we will never again be trodden by the current state terrorism we are now subjected to. We must ensure that our Fijian provinces enable Articles 3 and 4 of the UN DRIP ie self determination and autonomous self governing Fijian Provinces free from state domination and exploitation as experienced today. 

On the Public Order Act, since Dec 06, inciteful acts and statements against Fijian chiefs, the GCC, Fijian Native land and Fijians institutions have been made by Voreqe, Chaudry and Khaiyum - why haven’t these people been charged under the PO Act while the chiefs who are legitimately responsding have been threatened with this Act?

The double standards is all too typical of the totalitarian states such as Mugabe’s Zimbabwe and Burma. Nothing based on lies and deceit will last. Watch my words.

Ro Filipe Tuisawau.

Rewa.

What Evidence??? This Evidence!!!

As translated from this hand writen letter in hindi scripts

“Did Mr Chaudhry mislead the nation, the Government of India, the people of Haryana, and the citizens of Fiji when he categorically denied ever receiving any money from Haryana?

Why didn’t he disclose that he had received $2million from one Harbhajan Lal, who had been a part of a committee which channelled the money into his private Sydney bank account?”

Still in doubt then read the evidence above and people please print and PHOTOCOPY PHOTOCOPY PHOTOCOPY PHOTOCOPY PHOTOCOPY PHOTOCOPY PHOTOCOPY  and distribute to anyone and everyone until all the villager and the squatters and the cane farmers have a copy as evidence of the working of this crook. So the 850,000 Fiji Islanders can all have a copy and wherever M P Chaudary goes in Fiji we can confront him waive this letter in his face and ask him the $2 million question,

Where did the money come from and what was it’s intended purpose??? Why did he not declare the interest earned from it in his tax return????

Oh and I almost forgot, why no investigation Bai???? do you want us to scan and upload the whole content of his tax file on this blog so the world can see what you have been denying about your illegal and Butabutako Finance Minister???? THAT HE IS A TAX FRAUD!!!

 

The real story behind the Russel Hunter Emails!!

I firmly

believe what happened to Russell would never have happened had the IT Manager not monitored all his emails

and had the system forward all of Russells emails to him. Once he had enough emails and was able to work

out what was happening, he SOLD a copy to FijiTV for an undisclosed sum. We’ve all know here for a while

this muslim freak was trying to get rid of Russell someway so he could take over the CEO position himself

- he thinks he’s that good… he’s fully of rubbish and doesnt even make a good IT Manager. This dictator

has changed the mail server around from what it was when our previous IT Manager was around. He now

monitors ALL our emails coming in and leaving then he comes to us and tells us that we cant send personal

emails and stuff - how dare this terrorist monitor OUR emails and abuse our privacy? We cant speak out

against him because he is the IT Manager and blocks our privleges whenever someone pisses him off! Our

last IT Manager was a muslim too but he never monitored our emails and in fact PROVIDED us with VERY GOOD

TIPS against this military regime a lot of times - but because of the way he was treated in the company by

some people, he left and we were all worried when we heard this fukr IMROZ BUKSH was coming back!

So now Imroz Buksh has made the biggest mistake - he got our CEO fired… a man we all respected and

believed in for his commitment to democracy and a free press. IMROZ BUKSH lives near Boron House and

drives a white sports toyota corolla with a personalized number plate - some one please take care of this

guy so he understands what he’s done to our newspaper company!

Here’s the news you were all waiting to hear - WHAT was in the emails? Simple… the emails that came up

on TV a few days ago discussed the NEXT COUP!!! - AGAINST frank and his henchmen by some of his senior men

who are not happy with the road he’s taking the Fjians down. Apparently, the emails were seen as

treasonous and thats why the Govt. is not willing to discuss this issue in depth or it WILL SHOW THE ARMY

IS VERY FRAGMENTED NOW!!!

Thats all I have for you at the moment. I promise to email you more juicy details as it comes to hand!!!

Kudos to a brave Fiji Sun Reporter for emailing this to us. On that note we advice bloggers to avoid using your employers email if you’re discussing the Fiji Coup. Please open a yahoo, gmail, or hotmail account and use that for your anti coup conversations.

Keep on keeping on and do not be discouraged. Victory is ours!!!

SV Team.

Bainimarama’s Ethics by Michael Field

A lecture from Voreqe Bainimarama on ethics is akin to taking the word on good governance from Hermann Goering.

Fiji’s military strongman returned from India over the weekend (where he went entirely unnoticed and more on this below) and launched a bitter attack on journalists, saying, in a rather tortured fashion typical of his modest schooling, that “the media still misconstrues by deliberately ignoring the ethics of a responsible media organization….”

What would Bainimarama know about ethics? When he heard the word in 2006 he did not reach for a Lugar but rather his M16 clone and using the implied violence of his armed force, sent soldiers among the civilian public to wave guns at elected representatives. He had them fire mortars late at night to scare people and then he removed the government. Was any of that ethical?

He goes on: “The performance of the media recently leaves much to be desired. Some of its reporting has been inciteful (sic) and destabilising and therefore a threat to national security and stability.”

Excuse me? Name the Fiji soldier who for several years threatened to overthrow an elected government. He sent his soldiers marching through streets whenever he wanted to re-emphasize his threat. 

What is destabilizing; legitimate questions about Mahendra Chaudhry’s wealth, or setting a two week deadline on removal of a government ­ then doing so.

Let us not overlook as well the entirely destrabilising behaviour of murdering three citizens in the name of the military, or remorselessly beating people to pulp.

If anybody is the master of inciting unethical and destablising behaviour it is the Commodore.

Fiji Sun publisher Russell Hunter was this week thrown out of Fiji, checking into the same lock-up that briefly held me; the “Hotel Kennedy’s” black room.

Bainimarama’s flacks say that they conducted “a proper investigation” into Hunter. That investigation (which was secret, undefined and without anyt imput from Hunter) found that Hunter was “conducting himself in a manner prejudicial to the peace, defence, public safety, public order, security and stability of the sovereign state of the Fiji Islands”.

So he was declared a prohibited migrant.

Just what he did was not spelt out. Buried in is the hand of the fiscally and morally corrupt Mahendra Chaudhry and a parliament of rooks sitting in what grandly passes these days as the Fiji High Court.

Briefly forgotten in the drama of Hunter’s departure was the fact that he
and his paper had already had a fatwah imposed on them by none other than Justice Nazhat Shameem, friend and adviser to Bainimarama. She dragooned a couple of fellow judges into a Star Chamber like court on February 12 and had the Fiji Sun editor and activist Virisila Buadromo paraded before them; sans any charges! It was downright medieval, and not in the nature of Bainimarama’s ethics.

Shameem had Justice Jocelyn Scutt read out a statement that was curious for some of what it said. Scutt said that she had never supported the report by Fiji’s morally loopy Human Rights Commissioner, Shaista Shameem, sister of the self-same judge, who had proved intellectually and legally bankrupt report hailing Bainimarama¹s coup and accusing Laisenia Qarase of genocide.

Apparently the Fiji Sun had implied Scutt supported Shaista’s work. But it got kind of confused when later Scutt ­ who seems not to have followed the S Sister’s Scheming, found herself mysteriously robbed in the street.

Remember that happened to the Australian High Commissioner and the husband of Fiji-New Zealand lawyer Janet Mason. Bainimarama’s boys like street thuggery; they see it as ethical.

Buadromo and the Fiji Sun were represented at the Rookery by top lawyer Richard Naidu. Just after the coup he had been hauled out of his home late at night and harassed by the military. It completed a double for him: Sitiveni Rabuka’s boys beat up Naidu in the first coup in 1987.

As his clients were crowed over, Naidu wisely had them remain silent. The vision of judges destroying their own credibility did not require assistance from the cheap seats.

The prepared statement took exception to the way the judges, notably Shameem, had been described in reports. She did not like some reporting and acting in the bully fashion Bainimarama has now legitimized, threatened the paper. Her fatwah did not work and the paper continued publishing, so harsher measures had to be taken, as we have seen this week.

The Fiji court system is actually dominated by hard working ethical judges and some of them are even known to excuse themselves from cases where unconstitutional process is underway. But others, motivated by their own role in the coup and self interest, seem willing not only to risk their own reputations, but that of the entire Fiji judiciary. Who can now safely seek recourse from the courts when some of its judges send out press gangs to drag in citizens, without charge, to educate them? Is this Fiji¹s answer to Mao’s Cultural Revolution?

One has to wonder too at the behaviour of a number of once prominent Fiji journalists who have swallowed the Bainimarama line and endorse, indeed promote and work for, this new Bainimarama Charter. Do they agree with the silencing of journalists; or only the silencing of those journalists who disagree with the Commodore? Or is it all about family and cult?

What strikes one as particularly odd here is that all this effort is designed to protect Chaudhry, a one-time advocate of democracy and now a military appointee. Even back in late 2000, after his release from George Speight’s gang, Chaudhry was suspect. He raised a lot of money in the name of democracy; it was never accountable and much went into his private bank accounts.

He filed incomplete tax returns in the years since, at the same time as  Bainimarama was railing against the alleged corruption of the Qarase Government. Then, straight after the December  2006 coup Chaudhry accepts the illegal appointment of Finance Minister. (Read: The Chaudhry Papers coming shortly)

While Bainimarama gets to can police investigations into possible murder charges against him over the 2000 mutiny, Chaudhry gets to cover up his sins. Scratch my back, I¹ll scratch yours.

This is rather odd; Bainimarama staged his December 2008 coup to end corruption and clean up government. So far evidence of any actual corruption has yet to be produced. They have just laid charges against Qarase. It really matters not at all because the case will inevitably fail. The charges have been concocted by the entirely unconstitutional Independent Commission Against Corruption. The self same judges and military dictator who rebuked the media on ethics have now allowed this commission the right to prosecute cases in court; even though it is outside the constitution. Indeed, it is spitting on the constitution.

So while Qarase will, no doubt, be found guilty given the way courts are now rigged, when it finally staggers to the Fiji Court of Appeal, as it will, it will have to be thrown out.

It is really very simple; even the Commodore should get a grip on that one.

By chance I shared the sub-continent with Bainimarama. He was in India in his role of Commander of the RFMF, the now largely unemployed and unemployable drain on the Fiji tax base. Ailing Fiji soldiers were treated
at Wellington’s Wakefield Hospital but they are no longer welcome.

With dictatorships on all its borders ­ Pakistan, China and Burma ­ India is casual about military upstarts that do not threaten them. Besides, sources in India pointed out to me, Bainimarama is seen as a protector of the Indian Diaspora, a man who will work for Indo-Fijians rather than Fijians. He’s a friend. Still, he got no coverage at all in the Indian press.

Bainimarama issued a statement claiming to have met Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee. If he did the normally loquacious Indian Foreign Ministry decided to make no statement at all on this event.

Actually most of the work involved Bainamarama knocking out discount prices for Fijian soldiers at Batra Hospital, outside Delhi. Batra is at the forefront of medical tourism in India, and what Bainimarama’s statement did
not say was that the Indian police are taking a close look at it. Seem it might have some, as yet unproven, connection to one Amit Kumar, the Delhi kingpin in the illegal kidney trade. (Ni lako na sotia mo ni lai sele ekea, qai so e yadra sa yali tu nona kidney). He stole kidneys from poor Indians and transplanted them into rich foreigners. When exposed he fled to Nepal, but is now under arrest in Delhi.

Bainimarama always comes with strange connections.

Illustrative of the bizarre behavior attached to the Commodore headed down to Chennai, in the words of his statement, “a number of patients from Fiji are seeking treatment for cardiovascular and kidney diseases.”

Bet they are; they cannot get them in Bainimarama’s Fiji.

His statement did not name the Chennai hospital, but it was more than likely Aswene Soundra. There, poor Tamils are paid around US$900 to “donate” a kidney and then its implanted into some rich foreigner. If Bainimarama’s word is anything to go by, chances are some rich Fijians are alive now thanks to some poor Chennai auto-rickshaw driver.

Wonder how the Family Connections view that, and one can only wonder at the way Bainimarama lectures us on ethics?

Todays news article in The Australian newspaper

THE son of former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry openly boasted that an Australian newspaper publisher would be deported from the country days before the journalist was forcibly flown back to Sydney.

Publisher Russell Hunter, who arrived at the city’s airport yesterday carrying his deportation papers in his top pocket, believed he was being punished after the Fiji Sun exposed alleged financial corruption by Mr Chaudhry, now Fiji’s Finance Minister.

“Some people came last night about 8.30pm to my home and told me they were from immigration and they wanted to check some discrepancies in my passport. When they got it, they obviously weren’t going to give it back,” Mr Hunter said.

“When they asked me originally to go with them in the van, I said I didn’t want to. That’s when the soldiers appeared and grabbed my arm, and I thought I had better go.”

The incident is the latest in a campaign of often violent intimidation by the military-led government of dictator Frank Bainimarama and has been strongly criticised by the Australian and New Zealand governments.

It comes a week after Queensland Supreme Court judge Roslyn Atkinson and other members of an International Bar Association delegation were barred from entering Fiji. The group had planned to examine the rule of law.

Mr Hunter’s wife and daughter in Suva, who have been given three weeks to leave the country, had no idea what had happened to him until he was able to call them from Sydney on arrival.

“I could hear my mobile phone ringing all night but they (the Fijian officials) wouldn’t let me answer it,” he said.

Diplomatic sources, as well as Mr Hunter, said Mr Chaudhry’s son Rajendra had boasted that the publisher would be “out of the country by Wednesday”. It is not the first time the two men have clashed.

In 2000, when Mr Hunter was editor-in-chief of the News Corporation-owned Fiji Times, he was forced to leave the country temporarily after the then Chaudhry-led government refused to renew his work permit.

After moving to become publisher of the rival Fiji Sun, Mr Hunter has overseen a series of exposes alleging that an unnamed minister was guilty of tax evasion and profited from more than $1.4million channelled into a Commonwealth Bank account held in his name by the Indian Consulate-General in Sydney.

The situation was inflamed after The Fiji Times named Mr Chaudhry at the weekend as being at the centre of the scandal.

The editor of The Fiji Times, Netani Ricka, said journalists in the country were working under increasing indirect pressure from the Government and police not to criticise the regime.

“That leads to the possibility of self-censorship,” he said. “I’m not saying anyone is practising it … but it’s not an easy time for us. It’s going to be a hard few days, few weeks, few months even, ahead.”

Mr Chaudhry, who could not be contacted last night, has denied the allegations.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith called Mr Hunter’s deportation “totally unacceptable”. “This would appear to be another move by the illegal Fiji interim government to muzzle freedom of speech,” he said.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said other governments might follow the EU in withholding development aid until Fiji proved it was on a path to democracy. “The same pretty much applies to Australia, New Zealand, the US and other countries as well,” she said.

Commodore Bainimarama defended the decision, saying media freedom was “secure and guaranteed” under his control.

“THE FLUTTERING OF A BUTTERFLYS WING IN THE AMAZON JUNGLE CAN ULTIMATELY CAUSE A TSUNAMI IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN”

In this case every little morsel of information you have, what you’ve seen, heard or thought improbable - write it here or email us so we can link the pieces together, expose the irrelevance & illegallities of the ignoramus’ & wrap up this coup once and for all.

 We’ve done it with Fingers Levu & Fingers Lailai (erau sa cegu oca tiko na vei tamani dou vei dabui, dou butabutako).  We all need to ensure the wrong doings of sayed khaiyum, shamelessmimis, the inept epis & anyone else who thinks they can make up their own Rule of Law are fully exposed to get them out of sight for good.

 The pen is mightier than the sword. We don’t need guns to win this.

America Speaks: Cut out the bullshit!!!

The United States government has shown concern on the lack of accountability by the interim regime with regards to the deportation of Russell Hunter yesterday. In a media conference this afternoon, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary on the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Glynn Davies says this was one of the issues discussed in meetings with government officials.

Davies met this morning with Interim Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama and Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry (why the snake, shouldn’t Naulukau be here as the line Minister?).

“I didn’t receive an explanation that to me justified a knock on the door in the middle of the night you know and then taken without even a toothbrush, stuck on a plane and then sent on a four-hour flight while your family is sitting there waiting to find out what’s going on?”

The United States Government says it is not satisfied with how things are heading towards staging elections by next year. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary on the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Glynn Davies says from their observations they are reluctant to provide any aid for next year’s general election.

This is because the US does not see a path to elections and a guarantee that it will actually take place on the scheduled time.

Meanwhile, Davies says that the United States was not quite sure on how the people’s charter process fits with the elections.

He adds what’s most important is putting in place a democratically-elected government.
 

Medratou Sici!

Are we winning???

The main purpose this blog was set up was to expose the truth behind the facade and screen of smokes and mirrors set up by the Snake and fronted by the Pig for our daily consumption.

Our ultimate aim is to see these two like this! (picture from fijisilenced blog)

And it seems that our message is hitting home!

Number of hits yesterday Tuesday 26/2/08 was 5457. A new record for the blog.

Number of hits since creation six months ago? Over 200,000!!!

We need your support. Take any news you want from this blog and print it. Then photocopy, photocopy, photocopy, photocopy. Yes you civil servants, use the government copiers. Afterall we paid for that with our tax.

And,  disseminate, disseminate,disseminate,disseminate,…………….till the cows come home (Wara de o Frank).

Lets send the truth up to the hills of Naitasiri, the valleys of the Rewa, the beaches of Lau and Lomai, the sugar belt of Ba and Nadroga, the remote shores of Rotuma and wherever in our 300 islands and keep the people informed.

Let’s fufill the prophesies of the Good Book:

 ”that anything hidden shall be shouted from the roof tops” and

“you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free”

We thank you for your patronage.

The S V Team.