Photo: RNZI / Sally Round

Photo: RNZI

The leaders of Fiji's two opposition parties and a prominent trade unionist remained in police custody on Sunday morning, after they were arrested on Saturday over utterances at a meeting regarding the 2013 constitution in an incident that has alarmed human rights groups.

The leader of the National Federation Party, Biman Prasad, and the leader of Sodelpa, Sitiveni Rabuka, were being held, along with the general secretary of the Fiji Council of Trade Unions, Attar Singh, an academic and former politician, Tupeni Baba, and Jone Dakuvula, from the organisation Pacific Dialogue.

The leader of the Labour Party Mahendra Chaudhry told RNZ International he was also on his way to speak to police.

The police questioning is understood to be over what was said at a public meeting organised by Pacific Dialogue this week regarding the 2013 constitution, which was held without a government permit.

The National Federation Party said Professor Prasad's house and the party's headquarters in Suva had been searched by police on Saturday evening. It said a laptop and documents were seized from its offices. Mr Singh's house is also understood to have been searched.

RNZ International today interviewed the leader of the Fiji Labour Party, Mahendra Chaudhry, at home in Suva on Sunday afternoon, where he was preparing to go down to the police station for questioning.

The former prime minister said he contacted the police because he is a law abiding citizen and heard that they wanted to speak to him.

He said the police confirmed they were waiting for him and it was possible he would be at the police station overnight.

Mr Chaudhry said he had been invited by Pacific Dialogue to speak in two forums, one on the sugar industry and the other on the country's constitution.

Asked if he was acting in solidarity with leaders of other opposition groups who had been arrested, Mr Chaudhry said they were "all in it together".

"I was away from Suva, so now that I'm back, I think I should also join the queue."

Mr Chaudhry said he would talk to the police "and see what they do".

Mr Singh's lawyer, Raman Singh, said the men were being held at different police stations around the capital, Suva, and had not yet been charged. Under Fiji law, police can detain a person without charge for a maximum of 48 hours.

Tupou Draunidalo, the president of the National Federation Party, said Professor Prassad remained in good spirits after almost 24-hours in police custody, and had spent Sunday being questioned.

Ms Draunidalo said party supporters and family members had formed a vigil outside the police stations in Suva: "Really, today, we just want to show moral support, be there around the police station and check in on him," she said in an interview. "Just to make sure that these gentlemen, who have a reputation of upholding the rule of law, are well and have not been mistreated. That's our concern really, right now."

Attar Singh's lawyer, Raman Singh, said his client's questioning related to what was said at the meeting under the provisions of the Public Order Decree, and that Pacific Dialogue's meeting was held without a police permit.

In a statement, a police spokesperson, Ana Naisoro, said that officers had taken in "a number" of people regarding "comments uttered" at the discussion.

"This is a police process conducted when information is received about possible issues that could affect the safety and security of all Fijians which is why this step is being taken merely to eliminate all doubts and concerns that could stem from speculation," she said.

The panelists at the discussion, which Ms Naisoro confirmed did not have a permit, were Professor Prasad, Mr Singh and Mr Dakuvula, as well as an academic, Ganesh Chand, and an economist, Nilesh Lal.

But the weekend's events triggered concern among human rights organisations - both in Fiji and internationally - about a possible crackdown on political opposition and a decay in the country's newly re-established democracy. The country held its first elections under a new constitution in 2014, eight years after the then-military commander, Frank Bainimarama, took power in a coup. Mr Bainimarama's Fiji First party won the 2014 election by a landslide.

The 2013 constitution was drawn up by Mr Bainimarama's government after it scrapped a draft prepared by a constitutional committee after widespread public consultation. The new constitution had been criticised by opposition politicians and international NGOs, including Amnesty International, for apparent shortfalls on human rights and wide reaching immunities for the former military regime.

Prem Singh, an MP for the National Federation Party, who was not at the meeting, said it was unclear how a meeting about this constitution could have jeopardised Fijians' safety and security. He said the response undermined democracy and freedom of assembly.

Photo: AFP

"This is political persecution," said Mr Singh in an interview. "In a normal democracy you don't have these things just for attending a meeting and conversing with people, trying to find a way forward. As political leaders they have a right to discuss and debate issues of national importance and I think this is a very heavy-handed tactic."

The chair of the Fiji Coaltion for Human Rights, Michelle Reddy, said she was deeply troubled by Saturday's events. Ms Reddy said that while it remained unclear exactly why the men had been detained, the restrictions placed on such meetings were of great concern.

"It just creates an atmosphere of intimidation and fear, and I think that's exactly a limiting factor because a lot of civil society organisations are going to rethinking about whether they should host an event," said Ms Reddy in an interview. "It definitely is a violation of free speech, and freedom of association as well."

Amnesty International also condemned the arrests, calling for all five men to be released immediately. "This is a brazen crackdown on people for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression," said Rafendi Djamin, the NGO's director for South East Asia and the Pacific.

"The men appear to have been detained under Fiji's repressive Public Order Amendment Decree which restricts the ability to hold 'public' meetings. There is no evidence to suggest that the event posed any threat to national security. Fijians should be free to openly discuss their supreme law and even criticise without fear of reprisals," he said in a statement.

Ms Reddy said the Public Order Decree still remained in place, requiring a permit for public meetings, but many civil society organisations have held discussions without a permit with no repurcussions for years .

"Civil Society in general has not applied for permits to convene with other members of the public since the 2012 announcement by the Attorney General. The timing of these arrests is a concern and the further restrictions placed on meetings and events only create an atmosphere of intimidation and fear. The freedom of assembly, freedom of association as well as free of speech are fundamental cornerstones of democracy and rule of law," she said.

Tupou Draunidalo said the fact that people could be arrested for discussing the constitution was disgraceful and showed the country's democracy to be a sham.

"It's been a sham for the last two years, an absolute sham," she said. "They just do as they please and when the law doesn't suit them they change the law with their majority, and Australia and New Zealand is going along with all that. I really don't know why all of these draconian laws have to continue when we have so-called democracy."

Australia and New Zealand have fully restored diplomatic in recent years after Fiji's 2014 elections, which observers said was widely free and fair.

New Zealand's foreign minister, Murray McCully, said New Zealand was closely watching events in Fiji and seeking official advice.

Mr McCully, who is at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Summit in Federated States of Micronesia, said he was briefed on events by Fiji's representative there.

"Obviously anything that constrains free speech and space for legitimate political debate would be of concern to the New Zealand government," he said. "I've asked him to convey to his government our close interest in how this plays out."</s>MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Authorities in Fiji on Saturday detained the leaders of two opposition parties and a senior trade union official after they took part in an event critical of the Pacific island nation’s constitution, an opposition party official said.

The leader of the National Federation Party (NFP), Biman Prasad, and a trade unionist, Attar Singh, were taken into custody over their participation in Wednesday’s forum on the 2013 constitution, said an NFP official, Prem Singh.

“The arrest is a threat to public assembly and we don’t know why they are being arrested, they are only doing their jobs,” Singh said, but added that no charges had yet been made.

In a statement, the Sodelpa opposition party said its leader Sitiveni Rabuka, a former prime minister, had turned himself in to police. Rabuka was involved in two previous coups in 1987 and went on to become prime minister between 1992 and 1999.

Police and government officials did not immediately respond to telephone calls from Reuters seeking comment.

But a Fiji police spokeswoman, Ana Naisoro, told The Fiji Times that several people were being questioned over comments made at the forum which “could affect the safety and security of all Fijians”.

“This step is being taken merely to eliminate all doubts and concerns that could stem from speculation,” Naisoro was quoted as saying by The Fiji Times.

Police are also holding a former politician and an official of a non-government body that organized Wednesday’s event, Radio New Zealand said. The event coincided with the tiny nation’s first public holiday for Constitution Day.

Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation the day before the event, Prasad had described the holiday as a “waste of money” and government “propaganda”.

“There is nothing much to celebrate about the 2013 constitution, which was opposed to the will of the people,” Prasad said.

Prasad’s wife, Rajni Chand Prasad, told Reuters that police had searched their house looking for documents and that police also searched his office and took away a laptop computer.

Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama came to power in a bloodless military coup in 2006. He stood down from the military to run as a civilian in the country’s 2014 elections, winning by a landslide.</s>Fiji's foreign minister Inoke Kubuabola, filling in for Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama at this weekend's Pacific Islands Forum in Micronesia, confirmed Saturday he has lost his job in a cabinet shake-up.

Kubuabola said he was told late Friday he had been moved to the defence and national security portfolios and Bainimarama would take over the duties of foreign minister.

"Cabinet positions are decided by the prime minister and it is his prerogative to allocate our responsibilities," he told the Islands Business magazine as he entered the forum leaders' retreat on Saturday.

Bainimarama refuses to attend the forum, a regional leaders' summit, because of New Zealand and Australia's involvement.

He blames the two regional powers for Fiji being suspended from the forum after he seized control of the island state in a 2006 coup.

Since Fiji was invited back into the forum after organising a return to democratic elections in 2014, Bainimarama has sent his foreign minister in his place.

Bainimarama said in a statement he wanted to "reinvigorate" his cabinet.

"This reshuffle will enhance our ability to continue to provide the high level of service that the Fijian people have come to expect," he said.

"I will be assuming the role of foreign minister in addition to my current duties as prime minister, minister for iTaukei (Fijian) affairs and minister for sugar."</s>Authorities in the tiny Pacific island nation of Fiji arrested the leader of an opposition party and a senior trade union official on Saturday, and issued arrest warrants for several other opposition politicians, New Zealand media reported.

Radio New Zealand said the leader of the National Federation Party, Biman Prasad, and a trade unionist, Attar Singh, were arrested on Saturday afternoon.

The arrests were related to public meetings held last week to discuss Fiji's constitution, it added.

Police had taken Prasad for questioning, the National Federation Party said in a message from its official account on social network Twitter. It gave no further details.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the arrests or the reason for them.</s>Fiji opposition MPs freed after what Amnesty calls "brazen crackdown" on rights

SYDNEY, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Fijian police have released three opposition lawmakers detained over the weekend for criticising the constitution in what Amnesty International described as a "brazen crackdown" on freedom of expression.

Police on Saturday and Sunday detained leaders of three opposition parties and three other organisers and participants involved in a forum on constitutional reform in the Pacific island's capital of Suva last week.

All have since been freed without charge, but the case has been referred to the public prosecutor, police said in a statement issued on Sunday evening.

Police said the detentions were carried out in response to "issues that could affect the safety and security of all Fijians".

There is widespread concern among Fiji's opposition parties that the constitution gives too much power to a government originally installed in 2006 through a bloodless military coup.

"I think it's politically motivated," Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry told Reuters by phone shortly after he was released on Monday.

"The regime here is very sensitive to criticism. They have seen all three political parties in opposition coming together in one forum and I think they feel a bit jittery about it."

Opposition MPs wore black ribbons at Monday's opening of parliament and some boycotted the ceremonial session in protest over the detentions.

A spokeswoman for Fiji's Director of Public Prosecutions declined to comment. A spokesman for Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

After seizing power in 2006, Bainimarama stood down from the military to run as a civilian in the country's 2014 elections, winning by a landslide.

His opponents say the constitution, drawn up in 2013, concentrates too much power in the prime minister's office.

Jone Dakuvulua, who organised the reform forum and chairs non-government organisation Pacific Dialogue, said his arrest highlighted some of these problems.

"It's an indication that even though we have a so-called parliament, we do not have democracy," Dakuvulua told Reuters by phone.

Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International's director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said the detentions were "a brazen crackdown on people for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression". (Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Nick Macfie)</s>OPINION: Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama didn’t show his face at the Pacific Islands Forum but that didn’t stop him stealing the show.

There’s one hell of a power struggle going on in the Pacific and it’s never more evident than when the leaders all gather in one place for the annual leader’s retreat.

Last year in Papua New Guinea that strong-arming was clear when Prime Minister John Key and then Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott turned up to the post-forum press conference - a media event usually fronted by smaller Pacific nations.

Key and Abbott were there to keep a lid on the growing tensions between them and smaller nations over the lacklustre targets being set heading into the Paris climate change conference only a few months later.

Nobody was more surprised than the Kiwi and Aussie media contingent when they waltzed in and the heat coming off then Kiribati President Anote Tong - the Pacific poster boy for climate change - raised the temperature in the room ten-fold.

This year that power play has continued with some smaller Pacific nations not wanting French Polynesia and New Caledonia to join the forum.

Key and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull were supportive of the bid and after years of trying, the French finally got their foot in the door this year.

This is an opportunity for France to join the big boys table and exert some power in the region as well.

The biggest threat to all of this is Bainimarama and he’s been beavering away forming a sub-group within the Pacific as he tries to claw back some of the control - he’s also trying to keep Samoa at bay as they continually push for a greater presence.

So what better timing for Bainimarama than the night before the leader’s retreat - which he never planned to turn up at - to orchestrate a Cabinet reshuffle that saw his foreign minister in Pohnpei stripped of the role while he’s sat at the same table as Key and Turnbull.

Ratu Inoke Kubuabola is seen as a threat by Bainimarama and he knew he had to cut off his oxygen.

He then proceeded to start arresting Opposition MPs letting it rain chaos in Fiji at the exact same time the leaders were meeting in Pohnpei.

What better way to steal the headlines from what is going on at the forum table than throw a match on the fire in your own country.

Bainimarama is never going to come back to the forum table but that’s not going to stop him going in for the kill - only problem is he now has the French to contend with as well.</s>Pacific Island leaders are pushing back against letting the French into their annual forum but Prime Minister John Key says he supports the bid.

Both New Caledonia and French Polynesia, whose foreign policy and security is controlled by France, have been vying for a seat at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

The issue is expected to generate fiery debate at the leader's retreat in Pohnpei on Saturday with several nations, including Nauru, believed to be angry at the idea of the two countries joining.

"When the French Prime Minister was in New Zealand recently I made the point that I thought there was actually a case for both of them to have admission to PIF," Key said.

"You could make a case they don't perfectly fit the criteria but in the end this is ultimately a collection of countries who get together every 12 months to discuss Pacific issues."

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said several nations were against the bid because of strong concerns regarding how their foreign policy was handled from France.

Key dismissed suggestions he supported the bid because it would prompt France to contribute aid to the region - New Zealand and Australia provide the bulk of the money at the moment.

"France has had, because of its territorial rights, a long term interest in the Pacific and it will continue to be a significant supporter of those economies," he said.

"I don't think we'll be expecting France to change from that perspective, it's more about what they can do to the overall debate of discussion that takes place."

"The debate in my opinion at the forum would be stronger for their admittance," he said.

Federated States of Micronesia President Peter Christian, who is hosting the forum in Pohnpei, also supports the French bid.

He says the forum deals with "issues with no borders yet in this particular case there are those who would like to build a wall".

One leader with a seat at the retreat who chooses not to be there is Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama.

On Friday Bainimarama removed his foreign minister, Ratu Inoke, from the job and gave the portfolio to himself in a major Cabinet reshuffle.

Inoke is already at PIF representing Fiji in place of his leader, who hasn't attended since he was banned in 2009 following a military coup.

Key said he was personally disappointed about Inoke's demotion as he'd found his a "really effective person to deal with".

"We've had a series of issues over the last decade with Fiji where it's been important to have open dialogue."

Another issue expected to be raised at the leader's retreat is the ongoing human rights abuses in West Papua.

The issue was widely debated at PIF in Papua New Guinea last year and ended with the host Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, being asked to discuss with Indonesian officials the possibility of a fact-finding mission.

That mission has never gone ahead and given the close ties between some Pacific nations, in particular Fiji, and Indonesia, it's unlikely to get across the line.

McCully said last year's approach wasn't overly "productive" and it's likely any conversations with Indonesian officials would be handed over to foreign ministers to pursue.</s>There will be a French influence at the Pacific Islands’ Forum in Samoa next year after leaders voted to give New Caledonia and French Polynesia full membership.

At the leader’s retreat in Pohnpei on Saturday Prime Minister John Key and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pushed the case for the two French territories to be let in, after years of knocking on the door.

“The thing I like about it is these are two countries that have quite developed economies. They’re quite active in the issues that matter - tourism, renewable energy and fisheries for instance,’’ Key said.

Fundamentally it gives the forum “more weight,’’ he said.

New Zealand changed its tune after previously agreeing with other Pacific nations that the two French territories not having control over their foreign policy and defence meant they shouldn’t be allowed full membership.

“We’ve changed our position over time,’’ Key said.

Ahead of the retreat Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully had warned that the motion probably wouldn’t pass because of opposition from members.

On Sunday McCully said he was “pleasantly surprised” leaders had worked through their differences and got it over the line so quickly.

Bubbling away behind the scenes of the forum was the chaos breaking out in Fiji where Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has had a Cabinet reshuffle and ordered for some Opposition MPs, including the leader, to be arrested.

Bainimarama isn’t at the forum in the Federated States of Micronesia after refusing to attend since he was banned in 2009 - instead he sent his foreign minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, who he's since strippped of the role while he’s in Pohnpei.

McCully met with Kubuabola on Sunday where he told him New Zealand was “very closely interested in developments in Fiji’’.

The arrests are understood to relate to “a question of whether there were permits given for a gathering at which some of these individuals were panelists,’’ he said.

“Anything restraining free speech would be a concern to the New Zealand government.’’

McCully said a lot of good things have happened since the disarray in Fiji after Bainimarama led a military coup in 2006 and “we want to keep encouraging those who move things in a good direction’’.

Key said New Zealand is closely observing what is going on and hoping it will remain calm.

“The Government won an election reasonably recently. We thought they’d just get on and run the country, they’ve got the support of the people so they don’t need to do anything particularly silly,’’ he said.

Before the forum wrapped up on Sunday Key announced a $10 million Pacific Sporting Partnerships programme aimed at getting more children in Pacific countries playing sports and being healthy.

“The long term benefits might also be that we’ll continue to have a great crop of Samoan players that can add to the mighty All Blacks from time to time,’’ Key joked to Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi.

The programme will initially focus on netball and rugby in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands.

Malielegaoi said all four nations were grateful for the support and hoped it would extend to include cricket in the future.

“Over 50 per cent of our population comprises of young people. Many are not employed but have talents in playing sport.

“Sport is no longer looked at as a leisure activity, it’s employment for our youths,’’ he said.
Fiji authorities detain two opposition party leaders, a prominent trade unionist, and another opposition activist, following their participation in Wednesday's forum on the Pacific island's 2013 constitution. A police spokesperson told the Fiji Times that several people were being questioned about comments made at the forum that, "Could affect the safety and security of all Fijians."