A multinational police investigation implicating 11 Fiji police officers in collusion with drug traffickers has been handed over to prosecutors.

The Fiji police announced that the investigation, lasting nearly six months, now awaits advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on how to proceed.

On December 1 last year, a social media activist posted more than 100 screenshots of Viber messages between the officers and a member of an Auckland-based organised crime group.

Police personnel depicted in the screenshots ranged from beat cops to Criminal Intelligence Division (CID) officers to the head of the Narcotics Bureau.

The texts purportedly showed the Narcotics Bureau chief and others demanding a hit be put out on an individual, providing tip-offs about possible locations and movements. They also depicted officers demanding payments, with details of drop zones and pickup arrangements.

Police said that each officer’s financial histories was investigated.

Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu told local media on 19 December 2025 that the Narcotics Bureau chief had been placed on leave.

NZ ‘assisted’ investigation
A statement confirmed that Australian and New Zealand authorities “assisted” in the investigation. Tudravu confirmed in a press conference that United States authorities were also involved.

New Zealand police said they were “in touch” from December onwards.

“Fiji Police is leading the investigation, and New Zealand Police has offered any support that Fiji Police may require,” they said.

On December 2, Tudravu announced the investigation, with the officers’ phones confiscated shortly after. Police confirmed the investigation concluded last week.

The US Embassy in Wellington, where an FBI office is set up, declined to comment.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Jone Vakarisi was heard screaming and begging before he was “brutalised to death” in Fiji military custody last week, according to his sister.

Melehola Tagaga told RNZ Pacific Waves that the well-known drug pusher was asked if he was planning a coup, before the military arrested him at home and took him to the Queen Elizabeth Barracks for questioning last Thursday.

The Fiji Police Force classified the 37-year-old’s death as murder following a high-level meeting in Suva involving the Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and security and military chiefs on Monday.

“An investigation is underway with the support of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander, as earlier stated, so it will be thoroughly conducted,” police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said.

Vakarasi had become somewhat notorious in the capital, linked to turf wars and engaging in violence with law enforcement in recent years.

Local media outlets have described him as a local “drug lord” who was “involved in criminal networks”.

Fiji’s top military and police brass were on Bau Island farewelling the late President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau when news broke of his death last Friday.

His death certificate, dated April 18, lists asphyxia, aspiration of gastric contents, severe traumatic head injuries and blunt force trauma to both the head and chest as the causes of his death.

The Republic of Fiji Military (RFMF) commander Ro Jone Kalouniwai initially attributed the victim’s death to a “sudden and severe medical emergency” and “the presence of a pre-existing condition”.

However, he issued a second statement on Monday to correct the record, saying “the earlier description did not fully reflect the medical findings now available”.

Victim begged for his life
Melehola Tagaga claimed that people living close to the military barracks in Nabua, near Suva, told the family they heard Vakarisi “yelling and screaming” for hours before he died.

“My brother was saying “oi lei, au via bula”, meaning, “hey, I want to be alive,” and that is all they heard, all through the night,” she said.

Tagaga, 50, an entrepreneur in Sacramento, California, said his home was raided first by the police, then later by the military.

Both were looking for weapons and drugs, but nothing was found, then “disappointed” they questioned him about a possible coup.

“A family member that was there heard the term coup … they asked if he heard or had a plan or knew of someone that was plotting another coup. And he said he had nothing to do with it and he didn’t know anything about it,” Tagaga said.

She described the father of four as an “entrepreneur”, a “family man” but admitted he had previous “gang-related” convictions involving violence.

“What do you expect from the kind of society that we live in in Fiji … people were becoming more territorial, so if you felt threatened, wouldn’t you do something to make sure your family and friends are safe? [from rival territories and authorities].”

She said the family were demanding justice and an independent, fully transparent investigation into the death, claiming the military and the police were “in cahoots” with each other.

“With the the wrongdoing, we want accountability, regardless of what the allegations are (against Vakarisi). We still don’t have a clear explanation of what happened to him,” she said.

“His life probably didn’t matter to them [the military] but it mattered to us … he had a past with the law but that didn’t give them the right to kill him. A person’s life in custody should be protected.”

Lawyer says death ‘extrajudicial’
Rajendra Chaudhry, a lawyer and the son of former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, told Pacific Waves the death was an extrajudicial killing.

“I find it highly alarming that there was an attempt to cover it up, which is clearly unacceptable … the commander ought to have known about that. So the [initial] statement that was released under his name was misleading to say the least,” Chaudhry said.

He said it was not a simple communication oversight, it was a serious coverup that was exposed only after the death certificate was made public.

“I am quite disgusted to see comments on social media supporting the military because Vakarisi was a drug peddler, the military must respect the rule of law. He should have been handed over to the police for questioning and processing,” Chaudhry said.

“They [the police] should take charge of the investigation and deal with it independently, they should not act in collaboration with the military because the military is being investigated, it doesn’t make sense.”

While he had confidence in Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu, he said the military “leans on” section 131 of the Constitution, which states that that the military is responsible for the overall security of the country.

“That provision is a licence to act extra-constitutionally and must be read together with emergency provisions, where the military is required to act in safeguarding Fiji in the national interest, it should not have a say in domestic or governance matters, which is the role of the police and the government of the day.”

A Fiji military spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Dr Eroni Duaibe, said it would be inappropriate to comment while a police investigation was underway.

NGOCHR chair Shamima Ali called for a transparent, independent investigation into the human rights abuses involved in the murder

Aman Ravindra-Singh, a Fiji human rights lawyer who is in exile in Australia, equated asphyxia with strangulation.

Ravindra-Singh fled from Fiji in 2022 to avoid jail for contempt of court following a series of Facebook posts critical of the then prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and the former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

“In my personal view, based on other similar deaths in custody matters that I have looked at in the past, these injuries are consistent with torture, where a person is brutally beaten repeatedly to the head and chest, resulting in death,” he said.

In an exclusive interview with Mai TV’s The Brunch talkshow, Vakarisi’s ex-wife Kuini Osbourne rejected claims that he was involved in illegal drug and gun-related activities, as widely reported in local media.

She said following Vakarisi’s post-mortem, the pathologist explained to her his cause of death.

“He choked on his [own] blood and fluid that came up and [the doctor] explained that it was like strangulation.”

The pathologist said due to the severe trauma to Vakarisi’s head and chest he had internal bleeding from broken ribs, “he choked when the blood and fluids came up. He couldn’t vomit it or spit it out,” she said.

Meanwhile, Fiji police declined to say what Vakarisi’s previous convictions were.

“We will respond on policing issues, matters arising out of jurisdictional matters, such as convictions, is not for us to comment on,” Naisoro said

“We will not be commenting on anything other than the investigation, so as not to jeopardise the process,” she said.

Vakarisi’s older sister Tagaga said both their father and uncles had served in the military.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Fiji Police Force has launched a murder investigation following the death of wellknown drug pusher Jone Vakarisi, who died in military custody on Thursday.

Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro told RNZ Pacific that “investigators are gathering intelligence to establish the facts and circumstances surrounding the victim’s death”.

“The heads of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) and the police are reconfirming their commitment towards conducting a thorough investigation, appealing once again to members of the public to allow the investigative process to run its course,” Naisoro said.

Meanwhile, the Suva High Court has closed criminal proceedings against Vakarisi, after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) made an application to stop proceedings.

Fijivillage.com reports that public prosecutors were appealing Vakarisi’s suspended sentence for having marijuana within the confines of a court in January 2023.

He was reportedly found with 15.2 grams of marijuana and sentenced to three months in jail, suspended for two years by the Suva Magistrates Court.

The appeal hearing was meant to be held on Monday.

Application granted
Chief Justice Salesi Temo granted the ODPP’s application after reviewing medical evidence.

The court requested a copy of the death certificate, which was released by the police’s Director of Criminal Investigations.

Conflicting reports emerged over the weekend regarding the death of Vakarisi, who was reportedly linked to major criminal networks.

News of his death broke on Friday, while top military and police brass were gathered on Bau Island, farewelling the late President and Speaker of the House, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau.

The RFMF said in a statement on Saturday that the death was due to “a sudden and severe emergency” during questioning at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Nabua, approximately 10 minutes’ drive from Suva City.

RFMF commander Major-General Ro Jone Kalouniwai said the victim, in his late 30s, had “voluntarily presented” himself with three others to the RFMF headquarters “to assist with investigations.”

Kalouniwai attributed Vakarisi’s death to “a pre-existing condition”. However, Vakarisi’s family has disputed the military’s account, telling local media that he was “not a sickly person at all”.

Later statement
However, a later statement by General Kalouniwai corrected aspects of the initial military communication concerning the death of Vakarisi, saying that the RFMF acknowledged that the earlier description of the incident as a “medical emergency” did not fully reflect the medical findings now available, reports Fijivillage.com.

This followed the receipt of the post mortem report for Vakarisi.

The commander said the RFMF recognised the seriousness of these findings.

Queenie Osbourne, the mother of Vakarisi’s children, told The Fiji Times, that Vakarisi and others were taken from their home to the army barracks on Thursday night without any formal explanations.

A leaked death certificate, which first appeared on Fijian social media on Saturday, has now been verified by Fiji Police commissioner Rusiate Tudravu to be an official police document.

According to the document, the causes of Vakarisi’s death were listed as asphyxia, aspiration of gastric contents, severe traumatic head injuries, and blunt force trauma to both the head and chest.

“No one informed us of his death from the night he died. We found out when he was in the morgue,” Osbourne was quoted as saying by The Fiji Times.

Vakarisi’s family is calling for justice.

A high-level meeting took place in Suva involving the Prime Minister, security chiefs and military leaders before the police decided to issue a statement classifying Vakarisi’s death as murder.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Fiji military has found itself at the centre of a national firestorm following the death of a wellknown drug peddler, Jone Vakarisi, in army custody last Thursday.

Conflicting reports have emerged over the weekend regarding the death of Vakarisi, who was reportedly linked to major criminal networks.

News of his death broke while top military and police brass were gathered on Bau Islands, paying their final respects to the late President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau.

The Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) said in a statement on Saturday that Vakarisi’s death was due to “a sudden and severe emergency” during questioning at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Nabua, approximately 10 minutes’ drive from Suva City.

RFMF commander Ro Jone Kalouniwai said Vakarisi, in his late 30s, had “voluntarily presented” himself alongside three others to the RFMF headquarters “to assist with investigations”.

Kalouniwai pinned Vakarisi’s death to “a pre-existing condition”. However, Vakarisi’s family has disputed the military’s account, telling local media that he was “not a sickly person at all”.

Queenie Osbourne, the mother of Vakarisi’s children, told The Fiji Times, that Vakarisi and others were taken from their home to the army barracks on Thursday night without any formal explanations.

Leaked death certificate
A leaked death certificate, which first appeared on Fiji social media on Saturday, has now been verified by Fiji Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu to be an official police document.

According to the document, the causes of Vakarisi’s death are listed as asphyxia, aspiration of gastric contents, severe traumatic head injuries, and blunt force trauma to both the head and chest.

“No one informed us of his death from the night he died. We found out when he was in the morgue,” Osbourne was quoted as saying by The Fiji Times.

Vakarisi’s family is calling for justice.

Commisioner Tudravu said heads of the RFMF and Fiji Folice Force “are both in consensus of letting the law take its course, through the conduct of the investigation which is currently underway”.

According to the RFMF statement, at least one military officer has already been placed in military custody for internal disciplinary investigations.

Fiji’s Human Rights Commission said it was “concerned” about the death in military custody and has called for “a prompt [and] independent investigation”.

Aman Ravindra-Singh, a Fiji human rights lawyer who is in exile in Australia, said that based on other similar deaths in custody matters that he has looked at in the past, the injuries listed in Vakarisi’s death certificate “are consistent with torture, where a person is brutally beaten repeatedly to the head and chest resulting in death”.

‘A matter of grave concern’ – minister
Fiji Defence Minister Pio Tikoduadua has described Vakarisi’s death as “a serious matter”.

Tikoduadua said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the circumstances of the case while police inquiries were ongoing.

“The proper process must be allowed to take its course, and all relevant facts must be established independently and professionally. Any loss of life in such circumstances is a matter of grave concern,” he said in a statement.

“I expect the full cooperation of all relevant authorities with the police investigation. Accountability, adherence to the rule of law, and respect for due process must remain paramount.

He also urged the public to allow the investigation to proceed without speculation or the spread of misinformation.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Fiji Police Force has confirmed that a man who was taken in for questioning by the Republic of Fiji Military Forces in Suva has died in custody.

Fijian media are reporting that the man was a wellknown “drug lord” known to local authorities.

The man was among a group allegedly linked to gang activity who were taken in for questioning by the military on Thursday night, fijivillage.com reports.

Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said an investigation into the incident was underway.

The incident comes amid ongoing joint operations between the police and the military.

This week, the Fijian military warned that individuals responsible for “any attempt to destabilise national security” and those who aid “individuals engaged in criminal activity” had been put on notice.

The death also comes as Fijians mourn the passing of the former President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, who has been accorded a state funeral today.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A renowned Samoan fashion designer was fatally shot at the “No Kings” protest in Salt Lake City on Saturday, the Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD) has confirmed.

Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, known as Afa Ah Loo, an “innocent bystander” at the protest, died despite efforts by paramedics to save his life, police said.

Ah Loo, a Utah resident, died at the hospital. The Utah Office of the Medical Examiner will determine the official cause and manner of death.

The SLPCD said the incident began about 7.56pm local time when a sergeant assigned to the SLCPD Motor Squad reported hearing gunfire near 151 South State Street.

It said the sergeant and his squad were working to facilitate traffic and help to ensure public safety during a permitted demonstration that drew an estimated 10,000 participants.

“As panic spread throughout the area, hundreds of people ran for safety, hiding in parking garages, behind barriers, and going into nearby businesses.

“The first officers on scene notified SLCPD’s incident management team using their police radios.”

The SLCPD said officers quickly moved in to secure the scene and search for any active threats and found a man who had been shot and immediately began life-saving efforts.

“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the 39-year-old man who was killed, and with the many community members who were impacted by this traumatic incident,” Salt Lake City police chief Brian Redd said.

“When this shooting happened, the response of our officers and detectives was fast, brave, and highly coordinated. It speaks to the calibre of this great department and our law enforcement partners.”

Detectives working to thoroughly investigate
The SLCPD said about 8pm, members of its Violent Criminal Apprehension Team (VCAT) and Gang Unit were flagged down near 102 South 200 East, where officers found a man crouching among a group of people with a gunshot wound.

The man is identified as 24-year-old Arturo Gamboa, who was dressed in all black clothing and wearing a black mask.

“As officers approached, community members pointed out a nearby firearm, which was described as an AR15-style rifle.

“Officers also located a gas mask, black clothing, and a backpack in close proximity. The items were collected and processed by the SLCPD Crime Lab.

“Paramedics took Gamboa to the hospital. Detectives later booked Gamboa into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on a charge of murder.

Police said officers also detained two men who were wearing high-visibility neon green vests and carrying handguns.

Peacekeeping team
These men were apparently part of the event’s peacekeeping team.

According to the police, detectives learned during interviews that the two peacekeepers saw Gamboa move away from the crowd and move into a secluded area behind a wall — behavior they found suspicious.

“One of the peacekeepers told detectives he saw Gamboa pull out an AR15-style rifle from a backpack and begin manipulating it.

“The peacekeepers drew their firearms and ordered Gamboa to drop the weapon.

“Witnesses reported Gamboa instead lifted the rifle and began running toward the crowd gathered on State Street, holding the weapon in a firing position.

“In response, one of the peacekeepers fired three rounds. One round struck Gamboa, while another tragically wounded Mr Ah Loo.”

“Our detectives are now working to thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding this incident,” Redd said.

“We will not allow this individual act to create fear in our community.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The family of a Papua New Guinea police constable, killed in an ambush last month, has blocked a section of the Highlands Highway in Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province, demanding justice for his death.

Constable Harry Gorano succumbed to his injuries in intensive care two weeks ago after spending three weeks in a coma.

He was attacked alongside colleagues in the Southern Highlands in January, during which fellow officer Constable Noel Biape was fatally shot.

Gorano’s relatives, frustrated by the lack of arrests in the case, staged the roadblock early today, halting traffic on a key transit route.

They have repeatedly called for authorities to arrest those responsible for the ambush.

Additional personnel have been deployed to Goroka to assist local officers in managing tensions.

Forces in neighboring regions have also been placed on standby amid concerns that the protest could spark broader unrest.

The incident highlights the ongoing risks faced by PNG’s police force.

Since 2017, more than 20 officers have been killed in the line of duty, with many perpetrators still at large.

Investigations into Constable Gorano’s death remain ongoing.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Family of late constable urges authorities to fast-track investigation

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has been sentenced to one year in prison, Fiji media are reporting.

Bainimarama, alongside suspended Fiji Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho appeared in the High Court in Suva today for their sentencing hearing for a case involving their roles in blocking a police investigation at the University of the South Pacific in 2021.

Qiliho has been sentenced to two years jail.

Bainimarama and Qiliho jailed.      Video: Fiji Village

Bainimarama, the 69-year-old former military commander and 2006 coup leader, had been found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

Qiliho had been found guilty of abuse of office by the High Court Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo, who upheld the state’s appeal.

Bainimarama and Qiliho walked out of the High Court in Suva in handcuffs, and were escorted straight into a police vehicle.

“The former PM and the suspended COMPOL were found not guilty and acquitted accordingly by Resident Magistrate Seini Puamau at the Suva Magistrates Court on 12 October 2023,” the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said.

“The State had filed an appeal against their acquittal where the Acting Chief Justice, Salesi Temo then overturned the Magistrate’s decision and found the two guilty as charged. The matter was then sent back to the Magistrates’ Court for sentencing.

“In sentencing the duo, Magistrate Puamau announced that both their convictions would not be registered. The former PM was granted an absolute discharge while the suspended COMPOL received a conditional discharge with a fine of $1500 on 28 March 2024 by the Suva Magistrates Court following which the State had filed an appeal and challenged the discharge for a custodial sentence.

“The Acting Chief Justice quashed the Magistrate Court’s sentence and pronounced the custodial sentences respectively.”

Earlier today, local media reported an increased police presence outside the Suva court complex.

“There is more pronounced police presence than usual with vehicles being checked upon entry. A section has been cordoned off in front of the High Court facing Holiday Inn,” broadcaster fijivillage.com reported.

State broadcaster FBC reported that police only allowed close relatives and Bainimarama and Qiliho’s associates, along with the media, to sit in the courtroom.

MPs from the main opposition FijiFirst party in Parliament, including opposition leader Inia Seruiratu, Faiyaz Koya were present in court.

Brief timeline:

• The duo were sentenced by the Magistrates Court on 28 March.
• Magistrate Seini Puamau gave Bainimarama an absolute discharge — the lowest level sentence an offender can get and no conviction was registered.
• Qiliho was fined FJ$1500 and without a conviction as well.
• The 69-year-old former military commander and 2006 coup leader was found guilty of perverting the course of justice in a case related to the University of the South Pacific; and suspended police chief Qiliho was found guilty of abuse of office by the High Court Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo.
• Magistrate Puamau’s judgement had left many in the legal circles and commentators in the country perplexed.
• The State – through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution – had appealed the sentencing straightaway to the High Court.
• They were back in court 7 days later — during the court appearance at the High Court, the Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo, gave time until the 24 April for the respondents to file their submissions and for the State to reply by the 29th.
• The sentencing hearing was last Thursday, 2 May.
• Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo sentences Bainimarama to one year in jail and Qiliho for two years.

Bainimarama’s attempt to pervert the course of justice charge had a maximum tariff of five years while Qiliho’s charge of abuse of office carried a maximum tariff of 10 years.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Former Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman — a leading voice in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Parliament for human rights, an independent foreign policy, and justice for Occupied Palestine — was subject to “pretty much continuous” death threats and threats of violence, says party co-leader James Shaw.

She has resigned as a Green Party MP after facing shoplifting allegations.

Ghahraman said in a statement today stress relating to her work had led her to “act in ways that are completely out of character. I am not trying to excuse my actions, but I do want to explain them”.

“The mental health professional I see says my recent behaviour is consistent with recent events giving rise to extreme stress response, and relating to previously unrecognised trauma,” she said.

She said she had fallen short of the high standards expected of elected representatives, and apologised.

In a joint media conference with Green co-leader Marama Davidson, Shaw said Green MPs were expected to maintain high standards of public behaviour.

“It is clear to us that Ms Ghahraman is in a state of extreme distress. She has taken responsibility and she has apologised. We support the decision that she has made to resign.”

Party ‘deeply sorry’
The party was “deeply sorry” to see her leave under such circumstances, he said.

Shaw said that Parliament was a stressful place for anybody.

“However, Golriz herself has been subject to pretty much continuous threats of sexual violence, physical violence, death threats since the day she was elected to Parliament and so that has added a higher level of stress than is experienced by most Members of Parliament.

“And that has meant, for example there have been police investigations into those threats almost the entire time that she has been a Member of Parliament, and so obviously if you’re living with that level of threat in what is already quite a stressful situation then there are going to be consequences for that,” Shaw said.

“And so I have a lot of empathy for you know the fact that she has identified that she is in the state of extreme mental distress.

“Ultimately Golriz is taking accountability for her actions, she’s seeking medical help and she is in a state of extreme distress, that’s where we are at and we support her decision.”

Asked whether the Greens should review how they should support and select MPs, Green co-leader Marama Davidson said the party had a high quality and very robust selection process.

MPs ‘are still human’
“It is also understandable that all MPs across all political parties are still human when they come into politics.

“We will continue to support Golriz through a really distressing time that she is having at the moment and that is a Green Party responsibility also.”

Ghahraman was clearly distressed, Davidson said.

“We know that this is a decision for her to apologise and to resign from Parliament, for her well-being, for her to be able to focus and our responsibility is to make sure she has the support she has needed and to continue to give her aroha and compassion.”

Asked why the Greens did not front up to the situation earlier, Davidson said the Green Party co-leaders needed to seek clarity about the situation before making statements and Ghahraman was still overseas.

“I think people can understand how important it is to have face-to-face and in person conversations with such allegations.

“Also to allow her to have the support that she needs to be able to discuss those allegations.”

Once the co-leaders had received advice and worked out a course of action, Ghahraman returned “at the earliest possible convenience”, Davidson said.

Treatment of women of colour
Davidson said there had been conversations in recent times about the particular treatment of women and women of colour who had public profiles.

“It is incumbent on all political parties and the parliamentary system to be able to support everyone under the pressure of political profiles and the Greens certainly have always taken that seriously to make sure there are avenues for MPs feeling that stress to be able to communicate and seek help.”

Asked whether the co-leaders were aware that Ghahraman was experiencing mental distress before the allegations came to light, Shaw said it would not be appropriate to comment on the mental health condition of one of their colleagues.

“Professional support is available to all of our MPs and we do know that people do access them and we encourage people to access that professional support,” Shaw said.

Davidson said it was a sad day and she was losing a friend and colleague who she had worked with for six years.

“We are here to give aroha and hold her leadership in the portfolio work, kaupapa work that she has often been a lone voice in,” she said.

“We just have aroha and sadness for the value of her kaupapa and for her as a person and she was a part of our team.”

Green caucus support
Shaw said Ghahraman was getting a lot of support for her colleagues in the Green caucus, other Green Party members, as well as from other communities that she is well-connected to.

“And of course most importantly, she’s got professional support as well.”

Davidson said that they would continue to support Ghahraman by ensuring she continued to know “that our aroha and compassion that we are holding that as colleagues, as friends, as women in politics, and that’s really important to us”.

Shaw said Parliament had improved in terms of making support available to MPs over the last few years.

“We strongly encourage our MPs and our staff to access professional support if they feel that they need it and we will continue to do so.”

Shaw said Ghahraman was not looking for an excuse by disclosing her mental health issues and she said she wanted to take full accountability for her actions.

“She’s not looking for an excuse here, she’s trying to sort of seek a reason to explain her behaviour, not to justify it and I think that’s really really important,” Shaw said.

Shaw said pressures on MPs were discussed as a caucus including at monthly staff meetings of senior MPs and staff, at a quarterly weekend meeting, as well as working closely with parliamentary security, police and IT.

Davidson said losing Ghahraman was a big loss but the party would continue to uphold her portfolio areas, legacy and mahi.

Ghahraman was elected on the Green Party list, ranked 7th. She held 10 spokesperson portfolios, including Justice, Defence, and Foreign Affairs. She has not been charged.

Her resignation allows the next person on the list to enter Parliament — former Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The long-running row between the former Fiji government and the Suva-based regional University of the South Pacific (USP) has come back to haunt former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, who spent a night in a police cell on March 9 before appearing in court, charged with abuse of office.

Not only did the “USP saga”, as it came to be known, cause a major rift between Fiji and the other 12 USP-member countries, but it may have contributed to the narrow loss of Bainimarama’s FijiFirst Party (FFP) in the December 2022 election.

Bainimarama’s abuse of office charges included accusations of interfering with a police investigation into financial malpractices at USP. If convicted, he would face a maximum sentence of 17 years in jail.

But there are also serious questions about the future of the party that he co-founded, and which won successive elections in 2014 and 2018 on the back of his popularity.

A day before his indictment, there were surreal scenes at the Suva Central Police Station, as police officers marched an ashen-faced Bainimarama to his cell to spend the night before his court appearance the next morning.

This, under the full glare of live media coverage, with journalists tripping over themselves to take pictures of the former military strongman, who installed himself as prime minister after the 2006 coup and ruled for 16 years straight.

Arrested, detained and charged alongside Bainimarama was his once-powerful police chief, Sitiveni Qiliho, who managed a wry smile for the cameras. Both were released on a surety of F$10,000 (about NZ$7300) after pleading not guilty to the charges.

Shut down police investigation
It is alleged that in 2019, the duo “arbitrarily and in abuse of the authority of their respective offices” shut down a police investigation into alleged irregularities at USP when former vice-chancellor Rajesh Chandra was in charge.

In November 2018, Chandra’s replacement, Professor Pal Ahluwalia, revealed large remuneration payments to certain USP senior staff, some running to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Fiji government, unhappy with Ahluwalia’s attack on Chandra, counter-attacked by alleging irregularities in Ahluwalia’s own administration.

As the dispute escalated, the Fiji government suspended its annual grant to the USP in a bid to force an inquiry into its own allegations.

When an external audit by the NZ accountants BDO confirmed the original report’s findings, the USP executive committee, under the control of the then Fiji government appointees, suspended Ahluwalia in June 2020.

This was in defiance of the USP’s supreme decision-making body, the USP Council, which reinstated him within a week.

Samoa’s then Deputy Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa (who is now prime minister, having won a heavily contested election of her own) said at the time that Ahluwalia’s suspension had been a “nonsense”.

The then Nauruan President Lionel Aingimea attacked a “small group” of Fiji officials for “hijacking” the 12-country regional university.

Students threatened boycott
The USP Students’ Association threatened a boycott of exams, while more than 500 signatures supporting the suspended vice-chancellor were collected and students protested across several of USP’s national campuses. All these events played out prominently in the regional news media as well as on social media platforms.

With Fiji’s national elections scheduled for the following year, the political toll was becoming obvious. However, Bainimarama’s government either did not see it, or did not care to see it.

Instead of backing off from what many saw as an unnecessary fight, it doubled down. In February 2021, around 15 government police and security personnel along with immigration officials staged a late-night raid on Professor Ahluwalia’s Suva home, detained him with his wife, Sandra Price, and put them in a car for the three-hour drive to Nadi International Airport where, deported, they were put on the first flight to Australia.

The move sent shockwaves in Fiji and the region.

To many, it looked like a government that had come to power in the name of a “clean-up campaign” against corruption was now indulging in a cover-up campaign instead. The USP saga became political fodder at opposition rallies, with one of their major campaign promises being to bring back Professor Ahluwalia and restore the unpaid Fiji government grant that stood at F$86 million (about NZ$62 million) at the time.

A month before the 2022 polls, a statement targeting the estimated 30,000 staff and student cohort at USP, their friends and families, urged them to vote against FijiFirst, which would go on to lose government by a single parliamentary vote to the tripartite coalition led by another former coup leader, Sitiveni Rabuka.

Albanese official visit
It was Rabuka who greeted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on his first official visit to Fiji last week. During talks at the Australian-funded Blackrock military camp, Albanese reportedly secured Rabuka’s support for the AUKUS deal.

Australia is keen for stability in Fiji, which has not had a smooth transition of power since independence, with democratically elected governments removed by coups in 1987, 2000 and 2006. Any disturbance in Fiji has the potential to upset the delicate balance in the region as a whole.

For Bainimarama and his followers, there is much to rue. His claimed agenda — to build national unity and racial equality and to rid Fiji of corruption — earned widespread support in 2014.

His margin of victory was much narrower in 2018 but Bainimarama managed to secure a majority in Parliament to lead the nation again.

His electoral loss in 2022 was followed by a series of dramatic events, which first saw Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, his deputy in all but name, disqualified from holding his seat in Parliament.

Bainimarama went next, suspended for three years by Parliament’s privileges committee for a speech attacking head of state Ratu Wiliame Katonivere. He chose to resign as opposition leader.

Following his March 10 hearing, Bainimarama addressed the media and a few supporters outside court, adamant that he had served the country with “integrity” and with “the best interests” of all Fijians at heart.  The former leader even managed to smile for the cameras while surrounded by a group of followers.

With nearly double the personal votes of the sitting PM Rabuka under Fiji’s proportional representation voting system, Bainimarama’s supporters still harboured some hope that he could return as the country’s leader one day.

However, his health is not the best. He is now out of Parliament and bogged down by legal troubles. Is the sun now setting on the era of Bainimarama and FijiFirst?

Dr Shailendra Bahadur Singh is a frequent contributor to Asia Pacific Report and is on the editorial board of the associated Pacific Journalism Review. This article was originally published by the Lowy Institute’s The Interpreter and is republished here with the author’s permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho appeared before Suva Magistrates Court judge Justice Seini Puamau today and pleaded not guilty to abuse of office charges laid against them.

Justice Puamau stood down the case for 11am as she told the prosecution to provide “substantial evidence” to support the bail conditions it has made.

The conditions set by prosecution include a 8pm to 5am curfew as it has concerns of “high level of interference” with witnesses.

Bainimarama and Brigadier-General Qiliho were charged with one count each of abuse of office after being summoned to the Criminal Investigations Department yesterday afternoon and kept overnight at Totogo Police Station to appear in court today.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Christopher Pryde said the charges were for allegedly terminating an active police investigation in relation to the University of the South Pacific in July, 2019, were laid following a review of the police evidence docket which the DPP received on February 17, 2023.

“The former prime minister, Voreqe Bainimarama and the suspended police commissioner, Sitiveni Qiliho, are alleged to have arbitrarily and in abuse of the authority of their respective offices, terminated an active police investigation,” Pryde said.

“The charges relate to a complaint laid with the police by the University of the South Pacific in July, 2019 in relation to the activities of former staff members of the university.

“The police have also been requested to undertake further investigations into other matters arising from this case and more charges may be laid against other suspects in due course.”

Meri Radinibaravi is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Several teachers from a Papua New Guinean school in Porgera, Enga province, are now being investigated by police after they allegedly instigated the torture, burning and interrogation of four women over sorcery accusations on the campus.

The four women who worked as cleaners at the school were attacked after one of the teachers died suddenly last week.

According to Enga police commander acting Superintendent George Kakas, the women had been seen chatting with the teacher last week before he collapsed an hour after being seen with the women.

PPC Kakas said the women were then forced into the home of the deceased teacher and interrogated for 11 hours by the colleagues of the deceased and his relatives.

“Last week the teacher collapsed. He was believed to have conversed in a casual meeting with women earlier on in the day and collapsed in the afternoon,” Superintendent Kakas said.

“Relatives and some teachers and public servants accused the four women of practising sorcery and taking out the deceased’s heart.

“They were taken into the teacher’s house and brutally tortured with bush knives, axes and iron rods from about 5pm that evening until 4am the next day when they were rescued by security force members consisting of Porgera police and PNG Defence Force soldiers.

Relatives barred police
“When police tried to have a look at the body of the deceased, his relatives refused to let police near the body, saying that ‘the glasman was seeing the body and that the teacher was still alive’.

Glasmen are men who claim to be able to identify and accuse women of sorcery.

“I commend the work of the police station commander Porgera, Inspector Martin Kelei, who led the team to the teacher’s house after a tip-off and rescued [the tortured women].

“They were all driven safely to Wabag hospital where they are now undergoing treatment. I immediately instructed my OIC CID Wabag to do a postmortem on the body.

“The next day they confirmed the teacher died of a massive heart attack.”

Superintendent Kakas said: “There you have it. It’s a confirmed heart attack, and the ladies were falsely accused, tortured and nearly killed.

“We know the identities of the key instigators of the torture of the four women and are working to apprehend them.

“I will make it my personal business to ensure these perpetrators are arrested and charged.

I have an investigation team working on that through my OIC [officer in charge] sorcery accusation-related violence unit here in Wabag.”

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The appointment of Baron Waqa, former President of Nauru, to head the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) next year was a jaw-droppingly poor decision and an insult to everything the regional body is meant to represent.

What were the Forum leaders thinking?

Here’s the thing, they were probably told he was the former President of Nauru, he’ll do, and we have to keep Micronesia happy. Tick.

There is no doubt Micronesia has held the power at this forum after Kiribati dramatically ditched the group last year. It is crucial all Pacific countries, which include NZ and Australia, be united as the world goes through some crazy times.

Micronesia was offered a number of incentives to keep them at the table, including a new sub-regional office in Kiribati, a Pacific Oceans Commissioner based in Palau and Nauru’s Baron Waqa as Secretary-General.

Ongoing investigation
So what sort of man has been chosen to lead the Forum next year?

1. There has been an ongoing Australian Federal Police investigation into Gold Coast phosphate company Getax for the alleged payment of bribes to Nauruan politicians. That includes Baron Waqa, who allegedly received $60,000.
2. In 2014, President Baron Waqa and his government sacked the independent judiciary. He defended doing so, saying, “we have a right to dismiss any person not fulfilling their duties in the best interests of Nauru”. This prompted an international outcry, and the New Zealand government withdrew aid for the judicial system there in protest.
3. In 2015, his government blocked access to Facebook, which many, including a former Chief Justice, believed was an attempt to stifle dissent.
4. Media freedom is an issue — it costs $8750 to apply for media to apply for a visa, and if it is not approved (most of the time), you lose that amount.
   A disclosure: I was taken into custody in 2018 during the Pacific Islands Forum while interviewing a refugee in a public area. The government, led by Nauru President Baron Waqa, later said I wasn’t detained but accompanied them “voluntarily”. An outright lie — two police cars showed up, my equipment and phone were confiscated, and I was ordered into one of the cars. I was then placed in a dark room with a male police officer — a failed attempt at intimidation — for at least an hour before NZ MFAT officials arrived.
5. In 2015, an Australian PR firm, Mercer PR, which was working for the Nauru government, released details of a police report on an assault of a female Somali refugee.

Woman’s name, details released
The local police had found insufficient evidence, and in an extraordinary move, the government released the name of the complainant and graphic details about the allegations, including comments about her vagina and whether there was any evidence of semen and sexual activity.

The founder of the PR company, Lyall Mercer, defended the document release, saying it had done so on behalf of the Nauru government. A government led by Baron Waqa . . . and there was never any back down or apology over this.

How galling to see the sycophantic tweet from Lyall Mercer this week congratulating Waqa for his new PIF role, saying, “he is a person of great integrity & character, has travelled the world extensively & has a love & passion for the region & the Pacific way”.

So how do the women of the region feel about being represented by a man who had no problems with this extraordinary breach of privacy, the absolute contempt for the woman involved, which was clearly intended as a warning for any other female refugee coming forward?

Last year, as part of the PIF communique, the leaders commended the first PIF women leaders’ meeting a “milestone for the region and is demonstrative of its collective commitment to ensure that regional priorities are considerate of gender-balanced views and perspectives”. What a joke.

Pacific politics male-dominated
Politics in the Pacific is male-dominated, that’s a fact, and the Pacific Islands Forum could do a lot more to change that — this appointment is several steps back.

There were some highlights of the PIF special meeting. It was a relief to see Kiribati return to the Pacific Islands Forum. Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has done more to bring the Pacific countries together than any other individual — as Forum chair, he showed immense integrity during the forum — and finally, from New Zealand’s perspective, I’m told Carmel Sepuloni did an exceptional job at the leader’s table.

But the selection of Baron Waqa shows how desperate Pacific Forum leaders, without doing due diligence, were to keep Micronesia happy.

This a shoddy outcome for what needs to be a strong regional group with good governance, reflective of the people who live in the region, not the people at the top.

Barbara Dreaver is Television New Zealand’s 1News Pacific correspondent. This article is republished with the author’s permission.

How Rabuka is reshaping Fiji’s politics. Video: TVNZ Q&A

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A prominent Papuan journalist has said a recent bombing near his home is the latest in a string of attacks against him, reports ABC Pacific Beat.

Victor Mambor said he heard motorbikes ride past his home before a bomb exploded about 3 metres from his house on Monday.

He suspects his attackers wished to scare him.

“It’s not the first time, I have had more threats before,” Mambor said.

“They broke my my car, they threatened me through SMS texts and WhatsApp messenger.”

Mambor, editor of the Papuan news website Jubi, suspects the work he has done reporting on Indonesian-ruled West Papua has led to these threats.

“I think they think I’m a journalist who supports the West Papua freedom movement,” he said.

Presenter: Prianka Srinivasan

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Police interviewing of FijiFirst Party general secretary and former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has reportedly been suspended but will continue later.

FBC News reports the interview with Sayed-Khaiyum will continue.

The police Chief of Intelligence and Investigations, Assistant Commissioner Surend Sami, told the state broadcaster the suspension is to allow investigators to verify issues and information gathered during the interviews.

FijiVillage reports there was a second round of questioning on Tuesday.

The Minister for Rural, Maritime Development and Disaster Management, Sakiasi Ditoka, had filed a complaint against Sayed-Khaiyum on December 22, for allegedly inciting racial hatred and violence at a media conference in Suva before the coalition government had been formed.

In that conference, Sayed-Khaiyum had claimed stoning incidents highlighted by the police and said that this demonstrated the “divisive character” of the People’s Alliance Leader Sitiveni Rabuka, who is now the Prime Minister.

President told not to take external legal advice
Fiji’s Attorney-General, Siromi Turaga, has told the President he should not take legal advice from the former attorney-general, the former prime minister or from the opposition FijiFirst party.

FBC News reports Turaga saying that he briefed President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere that he must only accept legal opinions from the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

He said no other law firm should be advising on any other matters, and if he is in doubt, the Attorney-General’s Chambers is able to assist the President.

Turaga said that according to the Constitution and the law, any issues dealing with government affairs are to be dealt with by the coalition government and its head, Sitiveni Rabuka.

Complaint lodged against former PM
A human rights activist has filed a complaint against FijiFirst leader Voreqe Bainimarama.

FBC News reports that Surend Sami confirmed the complaint was in relation to statements made on live videos on the FijiFirst Facebook page on January 1 and 4.

In her complaint, Shamima Ali has alleged that Bainimarama’s statements were intended to cause public alarm, anxiety, disaffection, discontent and were made with malicious intent.

Sami said the investigation had now been taken over by the Criminal Investigation Department.

President Katonivere will officially open Parliament next week on Friday, February 3.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz