Fiji strips licences from broadcasters

Rowan Callick, Asia-Pacific editor | November 21, 2009 Article from:  The Australian

THE military-installed Fiji government has removed all broadcasting licences and given Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum the absolute power to renew or redistribute them without any compensation to those whose licences are stripped.

Television and radio stations are broadcasting this weekend on a temporary basis, as the owner, managers, staff and audiences await the determinations of Mr Sayed-Khaiyum.

He is the second-most powerful figure in the government after military commander and prime minister Frank Bainimarama.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum is also Minister for Justice, Anti-Corruption, Public Enterprises, Industry, Investment and Tourism, and Communications.

The action was carried out this week by decree – the chief tool of government since the parliament was scrapped and the constitution abrogated.

The decree states that no compensation can be claimed as a result of the cancellation or reallocation of a broadcasting licence, and that no court, tribunal or commission has the jurisdiction to entertain any challenge over the loss of a licence.

Anyone broadcasting in contravention to the minister’s directions can be jailed for five years.

The dominant television broadcaster, Fiji TV, is owned by Yasana Holdings, which represents the 14 ethnic Fijian provinces, and which also owns the monopoly Papua New Guinea TV broadcaster EMTV.

Fiji TV established a reputation for impartial news coverage, although the military installed two officers on its board following the coup three years ago.

It, like the country’s other media, is now subject to stringent military censorship.

All the country’s VHF TV frequencies are in the hands of Fiji TV.

It is now expected that at least one of these frequencies will be reallocated to the government-owned Fiji Broadcasting Corporation, which operates a radio service and has expressed an intention to establish a TV network, towards which it has allocated several million dollars.

The corporation’s chief executive, appointed earlier this year, is Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, younger brother of the Attorney-General and formerly a TV journalist.

The government broadcasts directly from 7-9pm nightly, except on Sundays, on a frequency it pays to rent from Fiji TV.

————————————————————————–

Looks like the oinklets sayed-khaiyum are determined to disallow any news that may report any iota of news that may, just may have a tinge of criticism about the illegal regime in its content wiped off the face of the earth.

Can’t wait to see the boys from Delainabua sink their shiny boots into their smugness. Yep, word from up there is that these two will be the first to feel the wrath of their self made cruelty.

The soldiers will follow orders because they are paid to do so, but they don’t like upstarts like the oinklets throwing their weight around. These brothers are a big itch just waiting to be scratched.

SV is of the opinion this latest ban is a lead up to the furore about to be unleashed about the lack of progress since 6.12.06 except for the unrestrained corruption being carried out by ole bipolar oink and his cooupsters.

Third anniversary of the disaster unfairly imposed on the Nation of Fiji is coming right up on Sunday 6 December 2009.

Parts of ’97 Constitution to be revived: ILLEGAL PM

Parts of Fiji’s abrogated 1997 Constitution dealing with the rule of law, the judiciary, human rights and democratic principles will be resurrected by decree, Illegal Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama has told officials of the European Commission.

At a meeting in Brussels with the EC’s Director General for Development, Stefano Manservisi and his advisors, Bainimarama assured them of government’s commitment to upholding the rule of law, the strengthening of the judiciary, respect for human rights and respect for democratic principles, a government statement said.

He said this commitment was evident in the decreeing of new legislations “and the resurrection by decree of those essential elements of the abrogated constitution dealing with such matters”.

Bainimarama was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, his permanent secretary Solo Mara and Fiji’s ambassador to the EU, Peceli Vocea.

The meeting was to exchange views on major issues that will form the basis for resuming formal consultations under the provision of Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, the statement said.

“Government believes that this informal meeting can now be taken to another level leading to the resumption of formal “consultations”, an objective of which is to review the agreement signed in October 2007 between the European Union and Fiji on the political situation in Fiji,” it said.
 
Bainimarama briefed the EC officials on the programs of institutional, judicial, constitutional and electoral reforms that are in place to begin in 2010 and in subsequent years and the reasons for these reforms.

The two sides also discussed issues pertaining to the Strategic Framework for Change, the National Dialogue Forum and the Public Emergency Regulation, enforced soon after the 1997 Constitution was abrogated in April.
 
Senior EC and Fiji government officials will now follow-up on the major outcomes of the discussion with the aim of ultimately resuming formal consultations between the two sides, said the government statement.

News Brief

Mon – Nov 09 ‘09

The corrupt in our society can’t say they have not been warned. The fight against corruption is being stepped up. One of the mandates given to the Government by the former President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, is the eradication of the corruption problem. Prime Minster Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama has made his own views clear. At the launch of the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) website (http://www.ficac.org.fj/) the Prime MInister said: “Corruption is present at all levels in society and past governments have failed in a tangible manner to arrest this problem.” (FS) Well ain’t that the understatement of the century, from the most corrupt person in Fiji. Self talk tiko vei iko oink!

The upkeep of school buildings and quarters is the responsibility of school committees. This was stressed by Minister for Education Filipe Bole yesterday. Mr Bole was responding to queries on the writing off of some school blocks and teachers quarters in Tailevu last week by the Occupational Health and Safety department. (FS) Silly old Bole still struggling after all these years, please spare the Citizens of Fiji & go retire in Mualevu,

Just days after being sworn into office, President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau arrived in Labasa yesterday on his first official tour as President. The week-long tour begins this morning where the President is expected to travel with senior government officials to Dreketi, Batiri and Seaqaqa visiting agriculture and irrigation sites. Since the arrival of Ratu Epeli, police has beefed security with at least 50 officers working on the ground. Ratu Epeli was quickly whisked away to his hotel by his personnel soon after a brief meeting with senior government officials at the Waiqele airport. (FS) For just a nanosecond there I thought I was reading about Afghanistan, & Karzai (another dodgy one), Nailatikaus cousin was swanning around in one of his famous blankets (he lent one to Koila for a recent photo opportunity). Beefing up security, puhleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese, the self importance is so ludicrous.

What began as an initiative to recognize the achievement of our exporters 17 years ago is today a premier event. The increasing number of Award categories further distinguishes the achievement of our local exporters across a growing export base. Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Bureau Chief Executive Officer Annie Rogers on Saturday night said the 18 categories vied for now showed that Fiji is a quality exporter. The event acknowledges, appreciates and rewards the accomplishments of our outstanding exporters. (FS)  More cocktails and fingerfood paid from the Nations depleted coffers for those who’d never heard of or been invited to such events, let alone been given a passing thought, until the illegal stouch of 5.12.06

PM sends clear business signal to Aust, NZ
November 07, 2009

Fiji’s HIGHLY ILLEGAL, SELF APPOINTED Prime Minister and Minister For All Things Illegal and Useless, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama has used the annual gathering of business executives at the Exporter of the Year Awards to tell recalcitrant neighbours Australia and New Zealand that all is well between them and Fiji at the business level.

“We need to view and indeed separate the political from trade, tourism and the economy,” Bainimarama said to applause from the audience, in reference to this week’s tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions first by Fiji and followed by Australia and New Zealand.

Bainimarama said while the governments of Fiji, Australia and New Zealand had taken respective positions regarding their interaction at the political and diplomatic level, his government would not let “such issues affect or discourage trade, tourism, business co-operation, collaboration and investment”.

“On the contrary, we encourage more trade, investment and tourism between our traditional partners of Australia and New Zealand.”

Bainimarama said he again offered engagement at all levels with the two governments “on a level playing field in which our sovereignty and dignity is respected and maintained. Such engagement must encourage trade, investment and friendship for the mutual benefit of our countries”.

—————————————————————————-

Message to Illegal Regime:

Aha oink, that’s not the way business is done legitimately anywhere in the world.

Your ignorant oink ciriveni statements may work under your malai mango tree but the role of diplomats and their respective embassies or consulars is to ensure responsible conducts of their citizens’ business, cultural or personal affairs in Fiji.

The illegal regime will more than likely attract and invite exploitive types to do business here, as if they’re not already lost up shit creek.

Fiji judicial jobs carry risks of professional misconduct Jennifer Corrin From: The Australian

FIJI’S appointment of Sri Lankan judges, designed to make up the shortfall caused by the revocation of judicial appointments earlier this year, has focused attention on the dilemmas facing any lawyer considering taking up judicial office in Fiji.
In essence, there are two competing policy considerations to be weighed by any potential candidate.

Accepting judicial appointment from an unelected regime implicitly recognises its validity and thwarts a return to democracy.

The opposing view is that judges are required to remain in office so that the courts can continue to operate, which is vital to the rule of law, even in the face of the questionable legitimacy of the government.

Lawyers must be wary of the potential professional con- sequences of accepting judicial appointment in a country with- out a democratically elected government.

A critical consideration is whether this amounts to professional misconduct.

Unfortunately, there is no express guidance on this in the rules of professional conduct prevailing in Australia.

In the absence of any explicit provision on point, the question is whether more general provisions are applicable to the situation.

Rules governing the profession in Australia generally require legal practitioners to be fit and proper persons and to exercise a reasonable standard of competence and diligence.

Similarly, practitioners are not to engage in conduct likely to diminish public confidence in the legal profession or in the administration of justice or otherwise bring the legal profession into disrepute.

Acceptance of judicial office in an illegal regime could be said to diminish public confidence in the judiciary, as it puts their independence into question.

The Fiji Code of Ethics, which is supplemented by the International Code of Ethics, contains similar provisions to those in force in Australia.

In considering whether the general rules of conduct are applicable to the situation, it is relevant that they are not intended as codes and do not exhaustively cover instances that amount to professional misconduct or unsatisfactory professional conduct.

Further, the standards of competence and diligence required under the various acts are interpreted broadly by enforcing bodies.

In the light of all this, it is possible that disciplinary action could lie against a solicitor or barrister who accepts appointment to the Fijian judiciary, even though there is no express provision prohibiting this. Given the seriousness of this matter, more explicit guidance from regulatory bodies is called for.

Knowingly accepting judicial appointment from an illegal regime also has the potential for criminal repercussions.

In Fiji, this could amount to an act of treason under the Penal Code. Prosecution would obviously be against the interests of the current regime, but this does not mean that charges could not be laid at a future time.

While the death penalty for treason was abolished in Fiji in 2002, it still carries a penalty of life imprisonment.

The latest military coup took place in Fiji in December 2006, led by Commodore Voreqe Frank Bainimarama. While the constitution was originally left in place, everything changed in April this year when, in deciding a case between the former prime minster and the head of the current regime, the Fiji Court of Appeal declared the military government to be unlawful.

The day after this decision, on April 10, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo announced the abolition of the constitution, the revocation of all judicial appointments and presidential assumption of all governing power.

Several members of the judiciary at the time of this announcement, including the members of the Court of Appeal who handed down the decision, were recent appointees. Francis Douglas SC was appointed a mere three days prior to his dismissal.

It is interesting to note that these judges had accepted their judicial appointments after the interim government came to power.

These judges had been appointed to replace other expatriate judges who it is understood had either not been offered a new contract by the interim government or refused a renewal due to concerns about the nature of the appointing regime.

Following the revocation of their appointments the appointees returned to Australia. The Law Council of Australia took up their cause, stating in an April 15 media release that President Iloilo’s actions posed a direct threat to the rule of law in Fiji, which could not be justified on any basis.

The Law Council also called for the immediate reinstatement of the judiciary, an end to the suspension of the constitution and the holding of democratic elections as soon as possible.

In spite of international pressure there have been no subsequent elections. The military-backed government’s justification for this is that a series of electoral reforms and corruption investigations must be completed to ensure that when democratic elections are once again held they are fair and valid.

Legal practitioners must be wary in their pursuit of Fijian judicial appointment, as acceptance may have serious professional and ethical consequences.

The uncertainty as to whether appointment to judicial office in an illegal regime amounts to professional misconduct reveals a gap in the regulatory framework. Express guidance is required to make the consequences clear.

Jennifer Corrin is executive director, Asia Pacific law, at the Centre for International, Public and Comparative Law, TC Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland.

• Rowan Callick, Asia-Pacific editor
• From: The Australian
• November 07, 2009 12:00AM

Other Pacific Island countries face threats — corruption, a failure to deliver services and a lack of productive jobs prominent — but coups are not among them.

Simply, they can count themselves fortunate to lack the soldiers and weaponry required, which were among Britain’s perverse colonial bequests to Fiji and have since received lavish funding from the UN.

The chief challenge is not to keep coups at bay from other countries but to prevent the coup culture, the new order, from pervading every facet of Fiji’s life.

The row this week, including the tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats, appears to confirm that travel bans imposed by Australia and New Zealand on people in senior positions under the regime, their spouses and children, appears to be biting.

Coups in 1987 and 2000 shattered the myth of Fiji’s paradise but failed to undermine the mostly impressive quality of its public life and governance.

Sitiveni Rabuka, the first coup leader, stood in elections in 1992 and became prime minister until 1999. He did not openly defy the chiefs but, by grabbing power as a commoner, initiated the steady erosion of chiefly authority.

George Speight, who seized the elected government in 2000 and kept the cabinet hostage for 56 days, failed to ignite the popular uprising he had expected and remains in jail.

The coup led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama in December 2006, however, has been something else altogether. Its reach has proven pervasive.

Bainimarama has succeeded in militarising the country, with soldiers and sailors — usually lacking qualifications for their new positions — installed in almost every influential office. If not the military, then relatives of the new movers and shakers.

For instance, the new chief executive of the state-owned Fiji Broadcasting Corporation is Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, brother of powerful Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

Earlier this year Bainimarama’s brother-in-law, Commander Francis Kean, who had been sentenced to 18 months’ jail for punching and kicking a man to death at the wedding of Bainimarama’s daughter, was re-appointed head of the navy after being released from jail, where he had remained on full pay.

The chief justice appointed by Bainimarama, Australian and British citizen Anthony Gates, said last weekend: “One thing is clear, the judiciary in Fiji will not be cowed.”

But there have been waves of judicial sackings and resignations since the latest coup.

If one thing is clear, it is that the judiciary is indeed likely to be cowed. Amnesty International recently released a report highlighting “a climate of fear” in Fiji, which describes “a pattern of government interference in the judiciary, severe censorship of the media, and the harassment and arrests of government critics”, such as Australian National University professor Brij Lal, a Fiji-born Australian, who was expelled on Thursday following critical remarks about the regime.

The next challenge for Fiji is to finalise its budget, a task principally in the hands of John Prasad, a food technology expert appointed by the regime as permanent finance department head. Revenues are tumbling, with sugar prices falling fast, without compensating funding from the European Union following the government’s refusal to go to elections.

Garment sales are lower because of the global downturn, and tourism numbers are being sustained only by severe discounting. At the same time, Bainimarama has required the government to address a succession of ad hoc demands for higher spending, including paying every school child’s bus fares, costing $1.5 million a year.

Global ratings agency Moody’s has said in unusually robust language that Fiji is suffering from a “coup culture”.

Bainimarama answered: “Fiji is probably one of the best tourist destinations in the world but underneath there is a rot that we need to get rid of.

“This is the action that would stop all coups, that would stop all the destabilising forces from bringing up race issues from now onwards. That’s what we are trying to do.” His rationalisation for his coup is that he intends to establish a less racially based political structure in Fiji, where voting has run in part on ethnic lines since independence. At the time of Rabuka’s first and second coups in 1987, the country was almost equally divided demographically between ethnic Fijians and the rest, mainly the descendants of Indian labourers indentured by the British to operate the sugar industry.

Since then, many Indians with portable skills and savings have left, leaving ethnic Fijians at more than 60 per cent of the population. And Indians are continuing to leave, despite the claims of Bainimarama that he plans to introduce a constitution and political structure in which they have more of a stake.

The Fiji that Britain left was said to be ruled by a “three-legged stool”: the army, the Methodist Church and the chiefs.

But Bainimarama has already slashed the authority of the church and the chiefs, transforming this stool into a pogo stick in which the army, the recipient of three pay rises since the coup, holds all power.

The authorities have appeared to support the rise of the New Methodist Church, a rival institution established by former Air Pacific staff member Atu Vulaono, brother of police commissioner Esala Teleni, who is himself a former naval commodore like Bainimarama.

There are signs of some friction emerging within the ranks of the new order, however, with Bainimarama ordering evangelistic police chief Teleni to cease running “crusades” that the latter has claimed to be the most effective answer to crime.

“People say I’m mad,” Teleni has said, “but I’m mad for Jesus.”

The religious authority that appears to be emerging as a substitute for electoral accountability or constitutionality — the constitution was abrogated in April, when the judges were all sacked and elections put off for at least five years — was also apparent at the swearing-in, on Thursday, of the new President.

Following his induction as President by Gates at Government House, overlooking Suva Harbour opposite the now-abandoned parliament, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau read the 13th-century prayer of St Francis of Assisi, “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace”, words also used by Margaret Thatcher in 1979 on her first election as prime minister of Britain.

Ratu Epeli, the then military commander, was in Australia when Rabuka led the first coup in Fiji, in May 1987, and was deposed. Bainimarama appointed him vice-president following his own coup.

But the Great Council of Chiefs, which under the 1997 constitution ratifies such appointments, rejected Ratu Epeli, although he is a senior chief and son-in-law of founding father Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara.

The council was then effectively disbanded by the military regime. But not everyone in the military has sided with the boss. The potential for splits there remains Bainimarama’s greatest point of vulnerability.

It was revealed on Thursday that the former second in command of the Fiji Military Forces’ land army, Colonel Jone Baledrokadroka, a PhD student at the Australian National University, has applied to Australia for a protection visa because he fears for his safety if he returns. Baledrokadroka told Radio Australia that Bainimarama “obviously wanted to politicise the military. He sees anyone who speaks out as an enemy. At the moment he is just hell-bent on retaliating against Australia and New Zealand.”

Man it’s hard work being an illegal prime minister and illegal president, keep sucking in your stomachs na qases, your kanalevu at the Nations expense will eventually return to haunt your miserable lives.

DRUM ROLL!

iji’s Chief Justice Anthony Gates triggers expulsions

• Chris Merritt, Legal affairs editor
• From: The Australian
• November 05, 2009 12:00AM

The breach in relations with Fiji has been triggered by one extraordinary man, Chief Justice Anthony Gates, an Australian citizen who appears to believe the role of a judge includes providing briefings for dictators.

Fiji’s expulsion of envoys from Australia and New Zealand appears to be a direct result of a briefing Justice Gates says he provided to Fiji’s military-appointed leader Frank Bainimarama and to Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

Commodore Bainimarama has confirmed the briefing was followed by a meeting on Tuesday morning at which “the Chief Justice reiterated his position that the interference by Australian and New Zealand governments in our judiciary undermines the judiciary”.

For most judges, such intimate contact with the executive arm of government might cause unease. But Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said last night the Chief Justice “provided no policy directive, nor did he have any input into policy”.

Suva has accused Australia and New Zealand of interfering in its affairs through its threat of travel sanctions against Fiji’s judges.

After Tuesday’s meeting, Commodore Bainimarama issued a statement that quoted what the Chief Justice had told him. Justice Gates had highlighted the fact that interference in another country’s judiciary was unheard of “in the absence of evidence that members of the judiciary are breaching any laws, either internationally or in Fiji”.

The role of Justice Gates in Fiji society has undergone a major expansion. Mr Sayed-Khaiyum confirmed he had been elevated in the order of precedence so he would now become acting president of Fiji if the newly selected president was absent.

“It happened months ago in a decree that nobody picked up,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

It was a former president, Josefa Iloilo, who tore up Fiji’s constitution in April but Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said the new role for Justice Gates had no adverse implications for the separation of powers.

“The chances of the chief justice being head of state in the absence of the president is very, very remote,” he said.

For Justice Gates, this promotion is the pinnacle of a career that has flourished as democracy in Fiji has withered.

He came to power in most unusual circumstances. Daniel Fatiaki, who had been chief justice, was suspended after Fiji’s 2006 coup. The then justice Gates became acting chief justice and later, when Justice Fatiaki was removed, he moved up to permanent chief justice.

His promotion in these circumstances did not go unnoticed by the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute.

Just before former president Iloilo tore up Fiji’s constitution, the IBA issued an adverse report on the rule of law in Fiji. It warned lawyers to be wary about accepting judicial office from the military-backed government because their appointments could be seen as tainted.

The IBA said the appointment of Justice Gates as chief justice needed to be reviewed to determine if it had breached the Fiji constitution. That review has never taken place.

The sacking of the entire judiciary took place soon after. But after dropping from sight for weeks, Justice Gates stunned the region’s lawyers when he was one of the first judicial officers to agree to return to office under a justice decree rather than the missing constitution.

At the time, grave fears had been held for the welfare of Justice Gates. Few believed this British-born and Cambridge-educated lawyer would accept office after the April upheaval.

The extent of change in Chief Justice Gates can be gauged by the content of a press release he issued on Sunday. It could have been issued by a foreign minister just as easily as a chief justice.

“The governments of Australia and New Zealand have successively now adopted policies of hostility towards the present Fiji government,” Justice Gates said.

It was the impact of this hostility on Fiji’s judiciary that pushed the judge to issue his statement. He outlined two key incidents that he used to justify his conclusion that the nation’s judges were under attack.

Australia and New Zealand have both issued detailed statements that appear to suggest that there are other ways of viewing the “facts” that are outlined in the judge’s press release. Those “facts” formed the basis of the statement by Commodore Bainimarama that explained why he had decided to expel diplomats from Australia and New Zealand.

The incident involving Australia’s alleged interference took place in Sri Lanka, after seven judges and magistrates withdrew applications for Australian transit visas so they could take up positions in Fiji.

The key point here is the timing. Australian consular officials contacted all seven Sri Lankans after they had decided to go to Fiji via Korea, not Australia. This meant the question of whether they were to receive Australian visas was irrelevant.

Australia’s foreign affairs department believes the incident has been misrepresented by the Fijians.

“It is not the case that visas were refused to individuals travelling from Sri Lanka to take up judicial positions in Fiji,” a departmental spokesman said.

“In fact, a decision had been made to issue visas to enable them to transit Australia. They did not travel through Australia, however, as they withdrew their visa applications, having decided instead to travel to Fiji via Korea.”

Only bad OINK we can afford to heavy

• Greg Sheridan, Foreign editor
• From: The Australian
• November 05, 2009 12:00AM

We live in a very nasty world. The Taliban murders people by the hundreds in Afghanistan and Pakistan and boasts about how many girls’ schools it blows up.

Most of the nations in our large aid budget are mired in corruption and governance crises.

A good part of Africa is struggling to avoid being failed states. In our own neighbourhood, the Melanesian world, you cannot find an unequivocal success story.

There’s not much we can do about all this. But there’s one thing we can do. We can beat up on Frank Bainimarama in Suva.

This is the true rule of international relations. The strong do what they will, the weak give what they must.

China can beat up on us because it’s big and we’re small. And we hear very little of jailed Australian executive Stern Hu these days. We can beat up on Fiji because in this case we’re big and it’s small.

Bainimarama came to power in a coup. His political plans, which once had a touch of coherence, have totally unravelled.

This, too, is partly because of external pressure. By some accounts Bainimarama is now determined not to give up power because he fears that, out of power, he would be prosecuted, either by a future Fijian government or by some expression of that fatuous construct, the international community.

This might almost be a textbook case of how international law retards the resolution of real world problems, if in fact it’s impossible now to negotiate Bainimarama out of office.

But perhaps the most important aspect of Bainimarama’s rule is that he hasn’t killed anybody since he came to office. ***We beg to differ Greg Sheridan, there have been many unexplained deaths under oinks illegal watch and numerous beatings of innocent citizens,  FACT*** That doesn’t make him a good dictator. His determination not to restore democracy is wholly objectionable. But it does make him an almost unique dictator. **** Yes, unique in the fact the he is a first class moron who cannot think for himself ****

Undoubtedly, Australia can crush Fiji. There are not many countries about which you can say that.

If we want to we can isolate Fiji, destroy its economy, impoverish its people, radicalise its Melanesian militants, set the army on a violent path, expose the Indian population to who knows what in the chaos that might follow. We sure can do that if we want to.

Surely the Sri Lankan judges thinking of taking on Fiji government appointments could have been left to work out all for themselves that they might come under our (ill-advised) travel bans, without our telling them so before they took up their appointments.

Now we don’t have a high commissioner in Fiji and they don’t have one here.

Congratulations, Canberra, a brilliant result.

We are in grave danger of making a very bad situation much worse. We can certainly isolate and punish Fiji with unique effectiveness, if we want to.

God knows why anyone in Canberra thinks it’s a good idea.

‘Australia and New Zealand’s interference with Fiji’s judiciary’

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

The following is the full text of Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama’s statement delivered at the Ministry of Information Conference Room, Tuesday November 3, 2009 at 6pm. “The Chief Justice has already highlighted the interference into our Judiciary, the Fijian Judiciary by the governments of Australia and New Zealand.

“It is a matter of great shame that Madame Justice Anjala Wati a respected member of our High Court bench was harassed and humiliated by the New Zealand High Commission in Fiji when she applied for a visa on medical grounds to take her baby son to New Zealand.

“In fact had the Attorney General not highlighted the matter in the media she would not have been granted a visa.

“In addition to this shameful incident the Sri Lankan judges who have been appointed to serve in the Fijian judiciary were told that they would not be able to travel through and to Australia because they had taken these positions.

“Again when this matter was highlighted in the media by the Chief Justice there was frenzied denial that visas had been refused by the Australian government.

“However, we now know that one of these Sri Lankan judges had the foresight to tape the conversation in which she was informed by the Australian official in Colombo that travel sanctions would apply because she had taken the position in the Fijian judiciary.

“The culmination of these incidents displays a consolidated effort to attack Fijis independent judiciary. It also shows that the Australian and New Zealand Governments have been dishonest and untruthful over the matter of travel ban for judges.

“In the circumstances it is not surprising that the Chief justice took the rather unusual step of holding a press conference on Sunday 1st November.

“This morning he had a meeting with me.

“In that meeting the Chief Justice reiterated his position that the interference by Australian and New Zealand governments in our judiciary undermines the judiciary.

“The Chief Justice told me that this policy of the Australian and New Zealand governments stops him from nominating credible, well qualified individuals to serve on the Bench.

“He also highlighted the fact that such interference is unheard of in particular in the absence of evidence that members of the judiciary are breaching any laws, either internationally or in Fiji.

“If anything, the brave men and women who have joined our judiciary are contributing to the enforcement of the rule of law. They have shown fortitude and a commitment to the law.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, following the meeting with the Chief Justice, given the seriousness of the matter at hand, I visited His Excellency the Vice President, who will be sworn in on Thursday as our 4th President.

“I briefed the Vice President of my meeting with the Chief Justice.

“We discussed the impact of the Australian and New Zealand governments position in relation to members of our Judiciary.

“We discussed the importance of our national interest to maintain an independent Judiciary with credible and well qualified judicial officers.

“We also discussed and agreed that the mandate given to my Government by the former President which includes a reformist and modernising agenda, as supplemented by the Peoples Charter for Change, must be implemented.

“Indeed, we agreed that we cannot be deterred from this path.

“We also discussed that we must engage with the international community and inform them, and indeed, partner with them to take Fiji forward.

“We discussed the need to have an equitable and just society based on common and equal citizenry and an economy which is liberalized, investor friendly and which improves the living standards of all Fijians.

“I am this evening holding this press conference to inform the public of Fiji about these events since it has an enormous impact on our country, on all our people as it affects our day to day living.

“I am, to be candid, baffled by the position taken by the Australian and New Zealand governments.

“On one hand they are our largest trading partners; they are members of the Pacific Islands Forum; 60 per cent of our tourists come from these countries and their numbers are growing on a daily basis; majority of our people who have migrated have gone to these countries; we have studied, worked and holidayed the most in these countries.

“They claim to be our friends yet on the other hand they fail to recognize the efforts that we are making in being a good international citizen; they fail to understand that we are creating a country that will be based on equal and common citizenry, a country of modern laws, a country which will have true democracy.

“Only today Cabinet approved a new Crimes Decree, a new Criminal Procedure Decree and a new Sentencing and Penalties Decree that will make us compliant with CEDAW, with international standards on human trafficking and with the Rome Statute.

“We have ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC); we have introduced new laws and strengthened existing laws in relation to corruption and bribery; we have introduced Domestic Violence laws; given protection to our children, paving the way for compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“We have consistently said that we want to engage with our neighbours and indeed all our international and multi-lateral partners. We have also left the door open for bi-lateral engagements.

“My focus is not disengagement rather it is engagement. My focus is on the future not the past.

“My focus is to deal with ills of the past to create a better future.

“My focus means that in my engagements I am upfront, candid and honest.

“That is why I cannot understand why Australia and New Zealand are engaged in a dishonest and untruthful strategy to undermine our judiciary, our independent institutions and our economy.

“I can accept their ban on me and my senior officers given the personalisation of matters. But why punish those individuals both Fijians and non-Fijians who join the Judiciary?; those Fijians from the private sector who want to contribute to a better, progressive and modern Fiji by way of joining Boards of Statutory Organizations – even the Fiji National Provident Fund is targeted.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not only a short sighted policy but it constitutes an attempt to sabotage national building, economy strengthening and the modernising efforts.

“When the Rudd and Key Governments came to power, I believed that we would encounter enlightened thinking and policies based on friendship and understanding. Unfortunately, it has not happened.

“Instead all we have had is their heads of missions refusing to engage with government and engaging only with those Fijians who have a political interest in holding Fiji back.

“They misinform Canberra and Wellington and wage a negative campaign against the Government and people of Fiji.

“By contrast the ordinary men and women and companies of Australia and New Zealand continue to come to our shores, they continue to do business in Fiji, and they continue to give us their good wishes.

“My message to them is – you are most welcome, we value your investment, your visit and your best wishes.

“We are a safe destination and the people of Fiji are the most hospitable in the world.

“We are also proud of our country and our sovereignty and we believe in living in dignity. Therefore, we should ensure that our sovereignty, our Judiciary and key institutions are allowed to function with independence and integrity.

“It is my Governments duty to ensure that no foreign Government should interfere with such judicial independence and integrity. We must always protect and be proud our sovereignty.

“I wish to declare that my Government fully supports the Chief Justice. We will always ensure that his independence and that of his judges remains unassailable.

“It is for these reasons that I have told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue communications to the Australian and New Zealand Governments that their respective heads of missions are to be recalled within 24 hours.

“I have also informed them that our High Commissioner in Australia is to be recalled, with immediate effect. Vinaka vakalevu.