GOVT prosecutes 63 people for ‘inciting unrest’ in 2014
SUVA: Dozens of people have been arrested in Fiji after authorities said they were trying to incite political upheaval or violence, saying some were involved with a paramilitary-style training group while others attempted to set up a sovereign Christian state.
In a wave of arrests gathering momentum this month, 63 people now face charges with maximum sentences between 10-15 years in prison.
The arrests come less than a year after the Pacific nation of 900,000 held landmark elections which many hoped would usher in an era of stable democracy after years of political turmoil and a series of military coups.
Some residents have accused Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama of using arrests to silence political dissent. Mr Bainimarama seized control of Fiji in a 2006 coup and ruled as an autocrat before his Fiji First party won last year’s popular vote.
“Put simply, any insurrection will be crushed,” Mr Bainimarama said in a speech last week . “Because it is not in the interests of the Fijian people as a whole, who are sick and tired of a tiny minority trying to sow division and insecurity and holding our nation back.”
Fiji’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said 31 of those arrested were connected with the alleged paramilitary group while two groups of 16, from different parts of Viti Levu, were allegedly connected with the sovereign Christian state movement.
The 63 arrested face charges of sedition, urging political violence and inciting communal antagonism, according to the office. Sixteen were released on bail while 47 remain in jail.
Those arrested include indigenous Fijian chiefs, a group which has seen its power diminished under Mr Bainumarama’s rule after he ended preferential indigenous representation in the Parliament and abolished the Great Council of chiefs.
Lawyer Aman Ravindra-Singh, who is representing more than half to those charged said the people posed no risk to Fiji’s stability, especially because the allegations related to events that took place in late 2014.
“If they were a threat to national security, I’m quite certain they would have caused all sorts of chaos by now,” he said. “But they’ve continued to lives as peaceful members of society, and nobody’s had any issues with them.” AP