Fiji military forces detained three Radio Fiji staff members on October 20 after a report that angered them was aired on the state-run station's early morning news bulletin. Acting chief executive Francis Herman, news director Vasiti Waqa and reporter Maca Lutunauga were taken away by soldiers at gunpoint.
The Radio Fiji news report quoted an army source as saying that the military objected to Vice-President Ratu Jope Seniloli being appointed acting president and army commander in chief while Fiji's "interim" President Ratu Josefa Iloilo is in Sydney for medical treatment. The military claimed the report was "unbalanced" and "dangerous".
The three Radio Fiji staff members were questioned by Fiji Military Forces' deputy commander, Colonel Alfred Tuatoko, and the military's lawyer, Major Etueni Caucau. The interrogators demanded that the staff members reveal their source for the report or face charges under the Emergency Powers Act and the military-imposed Internal Security Decree, passed after the May coup.
On the station's 5.40pm new bulletin, Herman was cited as saying that Radio Fiji stood by its story and had not revealed any sources. The three were eventually released at 6pm, uncharged after more than seven hours in detention.
Meanwhile, the military-installed "interim" administration on October 21 "strongly advised" Fiji Television Ltd against broadcasting an interview with the deposed Fijian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry on its weekly Close Up current affairs program. In a letter to the company, information minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola cautioned that the interview would promote "civil insurrection or disobedience". "This is an event that must be prevented at all costs as it not only could place the company's operations at risk but also pose a danger to the general public at large", the letter said.
Fiji TV's head of news and current affairs Richard Broadbridge was quoted by the October 21 Fiji Sun newspaper as saying that the company had carefully studied Kubuabola's letter and weighed it alongside the terms of its licence. He added that Chaudhry had since decided against taking part in the program scheduled for October 22, but that the station was still seeking to interview him.
Pacific Media Watch co-convenor David Robie said the action by the military was "outrageous intimidation of news media staff and utter contempt for the role news media enjoyed in any open and democratic society".
"Sadly, this will demonstrate to the world that there is no normality in Fiji", said Robie, who is also the journalism coordinator at the University of the South Pacific.
[From Pacific Media Watch Online at <http://www.pmw.c2o.org>.]