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Waqavonovono to SODELPA general secretary Litia Qionibaravi: "I was alerted via a post on Facebook that you have being spreading lies about me in order to stop young people from joining our movement : HOPE"

4/2/2017

General Secretary of SODELPA
ADI LITIA QIONIBARAVI
MCGREGOR RD
SUVA

MADAM

I was alerted via a post on Facebook that you have being spreading lies about me in order to stop young people from joining our movement : HOPE

I share one link here and it pertains to a Facebook status of a one Sailosi Sirisirivalu ( https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1317206684969356&id=100000401112181 ) And I have a few others plus written Statutory Declarations by others that point to your work against me.

Please note that this is not the first time I have been alerted by colleagues, of your personal agenda to target my upbringing especially.

I come from a strong Christian Family and I am proud to have been raised by both my mother and father although they were divorced when I was a Child. That has not turned me into a product of hate or disillusionment, it has strengthened my respect for the institution of marriage and the gift of Family.

This is why I stay single, because I have yet to find the right person to settle down with. And it is unfair to accept that single people are Homosexual. In fact that in itself is unchristian, to attack someone because they are single or because of their upbringing.

All I can say to you is that, I pray for you daily. And that the extent of what you or SODELPA has done to attack my credibility is nothing compared to the promise I believe in my God and the principles I stand for.

I cc members of my Family, and your Party in this email because in their eyes I also want to make a stand against your erroneous comments. I have also spoken to the media who called me up because of comments made by you targeting me, I herein present my final and only response to you on these issues.

Fiji deserves leaders who actually respect the rule of law and democracy, not those who peddle propaganda and ill will. When you go Low, we will go HOPE.

I shall see you in 2018 ADI LITIA

Regards

2 Comments

USP's grandstanding property venture but FLP: The [USP] authorities about to embark on grandiose scheme to build shopping mall along the Laucala Bay Road while number of their prime properties in rack and ruin

4/2/2017

1 Comment

"The house with the huge concrete wall across the road has also been vacant for months now and neglected. That concrete wall was put up only about a year ago at a huge cost to USP. It would have easily cost some $100,000 because the soapstone cliff face had to be levelled off before the wall could be erected. Workers were out there for months working on the wall.Since then the house has been left to disuse. One wonders why USP is wasting money and allowing prime properties to be neglected in this manner. It is a sheer
waste of public money (as USP is funded by overseas donors and Fiji and regional governments)...one wonders what USP's highly paid property managers are doing?"

Surprising that the authorities at USP are about to embark on a grandiose scheme to build a shopping mall along Laucala Bay Road while a number of their prime properties in the area are going to rack and ruin (refer to photos above).

The two properties pictured are on prime locations on Varani Street but have been unoccupied for some years and grossly neglected.

The first house on 28 Varani Street is virtually falling apart and has been boarded up for three years or more after the last tenant left. It is an eyesore with long overgrown grass and unkept compound which serves as a breeding ground for mosquitoes and diseases; broken down fences are a security risk for neighbouring households as criminals tend to use it to trespass into nearby properties.

When complaints were lodged with the Health authorities, they complained that other USP properties in the area are similarly neglected, posing a health hazard to neighbours.

The house with the huge concrete wall across the road has also been vacant for months now and neglected. That concrete wall was put up only about a year ago at a huge cost to USP. It would have easily cost some $100,000 because the soapstone cliff face had to be levelled off before the wall could be erected. Workers were out there for months working on the wall.. Since then the house has been left to disuse.

One wonders why USP is wasting money and allowing prime properties to be neglected in this manner. It is a sheer waste of public money ( as USP is funded by overseas donors and Fiji and regional governments).

While these prime properties are allowed to deteriorate, USP is about to launch into an ambitious plan for a shopping mall on its property bordering along Laucala Bay Road across from McDonalds.

What is the need for another huge shopping mall in an area that is already serviced by Sports City, Damodar City and Cost U Less?

We understand both students and lecturers are upset with the scheme as it will completely cut them off from access to the existing shopping complexes as the entrance to USP will be shifted to Queen Elizabeth Drive once the shopping complex comes underway.

Why is USP venturing into such hare-brained schemes when it should be concentrating on its core business of providing quality university education to students.

As it is, there are complaints that graduates are sub-standard and lack the skills required by the market.

Getting back to the abandoned houses, one wonders what USP's highly paid property managers are doing?

Fijileaks: The USP authorities are yet to comment to our questions regarding FLP's allegations.

From Fijileaks Archive, 19 May 2015

http://www.fijileaks.com/home/broke-usp-doesnt-have-22million-to-fix-existing-accommodations

http://www.fijileaks.com/home/uspgate-while-usp-claims-it-doesnt-have-2m-to-fix-crumbling-staff-accommodations-it-is-forking-out-120000-to-renovate-the-vc-rajesh-chandras-house-and-more-to-be-spent-one-perk-for-vc-another-for-staff

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A HUMBLE NATIVE Fijian woman was caring for the Iranian asylum seeker SAWARI and not "VIOLENT FIJI MUSLIM TERRORISTS" as bigots baying for his arrest and deportation were screaming their lungs out

3/2/2017

6 Comments

"I took him in like he was my own son. I felt sorry for him when I saw him, he was so small. Then he told me that he was from Papua New Guinea, didn't have any family and was here for four months. My heart went out to him and I told him this is your home. You can call me nene and these are your brothers and sisters. He spoke in broken English, ate what we ate and was easy to live with."
Mrs Rauge Naikeli, Namotomoto Village, Nadi

Rauge Naikeli with her son, Isimeli, at their Namotomoto Village home

The mystery of the Iranian refugee continues:
Now that the guy who claimed to be an Iranian national seeking refugee status in Fiji has been deported to PNG after being nabbed at Korolevu, questions remain about the incident. According to the Fiji Sun he was staying with a family in Nadi while hiding from Immigration authorities. This raises further questions:
1. He obviously had a contact in Nadi who gave him sanctuary. Who is this Fiji link? Do the authorities know the identity of this person/family that took him in and kept him in hiding from the authorities for a week? We know from pictures that he had found refuge somewhere near Wailoaloa Beach and was obviously well looked after.
2. Has this Fiji link been questioned? Because for all we know there could be quite a regular racket going on in human trafficking that the Fiji authorities may not know of?
3. Why did it take a week for Immigration to nab the so-called Iranian – in fact, not until political parties began posing questions in the Fiji media about the strange case of Loghman Sawari, if that is his true name?
4. Why are the authorities not coming clean about this whole affair? The public of Fiji are entitled to the truth regarding Loghman Sawari and his Fiji connections. Instructions are that all questions regarding the affair are to be directed to the Prime Minister’s Office and not to Immigration authorities. Strange indeed! Well, how about a statement from the PM’s office?

I really miss him, says Sawari aider
By Felix Chaudhary And Margaret Wise
The Fiji Times
Saturday, 4 February 2017

"I took him in like he was my own son."

These were the words of an emotional Nadi mother as she related last night how Loghman Sawari arrived at her Namotomoto home almost two weeks ago
.
The Iranian national was brought to her door by her 12-year-old son, Isimeli.

Both were teary-eyed, distraught about yesterday's deportation of the 21-year-old.

"I really miss him, he cut my hair and cooked meals for us, he was a nice man," the young boy said.

Rauga Naikeli said she was ironing clothes about two weeks ago when her son arrived with Mr Sawari.

"They met on the roadside and Loghman asked him to help search for a place to stay because the hotel he was staying in was too expensive," she said.

"They went around looking and couldn't find appropriate accommodation, so Isimeli brought him home and asked if he could live with us.

"I felt sorry for him when I saw him, he was so small.

"Then he told me that he was from Papua New Guinea, didn't have any family and was here for four months.
"My heart went out to him and I told him this is your home. You can call me nene and these are your brothers and sisters. He spoke in broken English, ate what we ate and was easy to live with."

Ms Naikeli said the Iranian told them his name was Junior and it wasn't until a few days later that he told them about his life in detention and as a refugee in PNG.

"He showed me his PNG passport and it had his name Loghman Sawari in it.

"I was really moved by the story of the loss of his family and the suffering he had experienced on the streets of PNG.

"I told him that he should immediately go to immigration and seek advice on what he could do.

"He left the next day for Suva and returned three days later.

"Loghman informed us that he had a lawyer."

Ms Naikeli said when she later read in the news that the Immigration Department was still waiting for him she scolded him. "But he said his lawyer was handling everything and we left it at that.

"He left home on Thursday and we knew that he was meeting the immigration officials yesterday.

"We were waiting and hoping for some good news because we really felt sorry for him. He had become part of my family.

"When we heard that he had been arrested and deported we were all devastated.

"We had all grown attached to him and had so much love and compassion for him because of the experiences he said he had been through."

Sawari was among 60 detainees who spent three weeks in the East Lorengau jail in PNG after protesting against their indefinite detention. As Sawari tells it, his crime was to be among those who chanted ‘Freedom!’ “He handcuff me and send me to the jail for 21 days.” “The security guard say, ‘You want freedom?’ I tell him yes. He handcuff me and send me to the jail for 21 days.”...Sawari still suffers depression but retains the capacity to hope for a happy ending. “Everyday I pray, ‘Please god, not only help me, help everyone’,” he says.

For the first few months of his captivity in Papua New Guinea, Sawari was an aberration: the boy in a detention centre that is supposed to be exclusively for single men.

He was 17 when he arrived in Papua New Guinea in August 2013, one month after the then Labor government decided to remove children and family groups from the detention centre.
He has the letter from Australian immigration officials confirming his age and telling him he would be “treated as a minor for the purposes of accommodation, placement and other purposes”.

He remained in isolation until his 18th birthday, when he was told he would be staying. The smug expression on the face of the official who conveyed this news is etched in his memory.

Now he is a contradiction: a certified refugee who tried to take his life after finally being given the recognition that asylum seekers crave, the status that differentiates those found to be owed protection and the opportunity to rebuild shattered lives from the rest. It isn’t supposed to work that way.

What compelled the 19-year-old to turn a towel into a makeshift noose, attach it to a rafter outside his room and step from a chair to oblivion is hardly a mystery. His bottom lip trembles uncontrollably as he tries to explain that anger, despair and an all-consuming sense of hopelessness propelled him.

Anger at the local immigration officer who, he says, incited him to go ahead when, out of frustration, Sawari told the officer he planned to kill himself. With calculated indifference, he says the officer replied that he was free now to do whatever he liked.

Despair that the prospect of seeing the mother he misses desperately is as distant now at it was when he was first taken to Manus against his will from Christmas Island. He has been told he will have to wait eight years to either travel to see his mother or sponsor her to join him. “If I wait for eight years, maybe my mum die. Maybe I die. This is not good.”

And hopelessness, because each day passes so slowly he says it feels like a year. Tablet-induced sleep offers the only respite, except when it leads to the recurring nightmare that terrifies him, where five menacing dogs stand before him, and the biggest one is jet black and demands money he doesn’t have.

When the lightly framed Sawari arrived at the transit accommodation in April, there were only 12 other residents. Now there are more than 50 others in the same situation: recognised as refugees, but denied almost all the basic rights that are supposed to come with refugee status.They cannot earn a living, learn, move freely, buy property or be reunited with family members.

Sawari hurt his arm recently when he says he was punched by a security guard after asking for an extra cake of soap. The doctor gave him a prescription to address the pain, but he could not afford to fill it and still buy enough credit to ring his mother, who believes he is living happily in Australia.

Sawari’s first taste of the heavy hand of those who run the detention centre came soon after he arrived, when he spent two months in isolation with three other teenagers. He believes two returned to their country and one is living in Adelaide.

At one point he threatened to hurt himself if he was not able to join his friends in one of the big compounds. He says he wasn’t serious, just depressed and lonely. Within 30 minutes, 10 security guards arrested him before he had time pull on his shoes. At the police station, they ordered him to strip naked to show he was not carrying a weapon before immigration officials delivered an ultimatum: “If you don’t promise to be a good boy, we will leave you here.”

When he returned to the compound, having promised to be a “good boy”, the door of Sawari’s room was replaced with a curtain so he could be monitored. “I was sitting in the rain, crying. The guards from G4S (since replaced by Wilson Security) were laughing at me.”

A year after the violence, Sawari was among 60 detainees who spent three weeks in the East Lorengau jail after protesting against their indefinite detention. As Sawari tells it, his crime was to be among those who chanted ‘Freedom!’

“He handcuff me and send me to the jail for 21 days.”

“The security guard say, ‘You want freedom?’ I tell him yes. He handcuff me and send me to the jail for 21 days.” What made the experience more traumatic was that two of Barati’s alleged killers were being held at the jail at the same time.

Immediately after Sawari’s suicide attempt, three months ago, one of the other refugees confronted the immigration officer who had upset him. “Why you provoke him to kill himself? He’s a young person. How do you answer to his family if he die?” Mohsen, a 28-year-old Iranian refugee who dreams of studying art, recalls saying.

The response, he says, was the stock answer to any complaint: “If you have a problem, go back to your country.”

6 Comments

STUCK in Legal Limbo : An Indo-Fijian HINDU who converted to Islam and changed his name to MOHAMMED ****** by Deed Poll is stuck in Bangladesh because Fiji Immigration are yet to give him new Passport

3/2/2017

2 Comments

DESPERATE FOR HELP TO GET OUT OF BANGLADESH: The Indo-Fijian, on reading the Iranian asylum seeker Sawari's heart wrenching deportation coverage, has contacted Fijileaks, asking for help:
"I'm a Fiji citizen currently stuck in Asia without passport. I fell in love with a Muslim girl and converted to Islam to marry her. The fact is when I applied for renewal after Deed of Poll with new name via Nadi based law firm its stuck at Fiji Immigration for more then 1 year now. Director of Immigration is not giving any reasons, why? I'm not allowed to enter my own country. I have no brother or sister. My wife and _ kids left me after I got stuck here. I have ___year-old mother staying with some relatives in Nadi. I need a new passport under my new name to return to Fiji. Editor, I wish to request that my communications to you should be in loop with Mr Victor Lal-Fijileaks founding Editor-in-Chief as well. My humble request is to get back home to my mother and then whatever the authorities want to ask me or do to me, don't matter to me then. All legal process was done when my old passport was valid and it expired in December 2015. Currently I'm illegal and authorities here agreed to let me go if I produced valid passport and pay overstaying fine as per law here. Please find attached my DEED OF POLL and Fiji Immigration passport application receipt. Lawyer's details are as follows:".
Fijileaks: We have redacted his e-mails, identity, and the documents

2 Comments

DEPORTATIONGATE: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) advised Khaiyum that the Iranian Sawari was not a refugee because he was holding PNG passport, so deport him; WE SAY TO BOTH: WRONG!

3/2/2017

11 Comments

JUNGLE JUSTICE: Sawari on way to PNG

Fijileaks founding Editor-in-Chief VICTOR LAL:

The delay in not lodging an asylum claim on arrival in a country is not a ground to ambush someone and deport him to PNG. Yes, Loghaman Sawari travelled on a PNG passport (fake or genuine) but that does not mean he is or was safe there. Australia wrongly sent Sawari to the men-only camp on Manus Island as a 17-year-old in August 2013, despite the fact he was carrying a photocopy of his national identity document that showed his birth date, and told immigration officials he was under 18. When the mistake was discovered, and the Australian authorities conceded the mistake, he was not removed from Manus, but kept on the island, locked in isolation with another child, until his 18th birthday. During his incarceration he was also assaulted by a security guard for asking for more washing powder; he was taken to hospital for medical treatment. Sawari also attempted to commit suicide. He was later accepted as a refugee and had lived in Papua New Guinea outside the camp. But he complained he had been physically attacked by locals, threatened, harassed and had lived for a period in poverty on the street (Remember the Indo-Fijian victims of Rabuka and Speight coups). Meanwhile, he was lured into giving himself up to Fiji Immigration authorities on the understanding that he (through his lawyer) would finally explain his case. But he was TRICKED, ARRESTED and DEPORTED to Papua New Guinea. Since he was not even allowed to argue his case, Khaiyum and the UNHCR cannot claim that his application would have been without MERIT. If UNHCR advised Khaiyum on Sawari's legal standing which resulted in his (Sawari's) deportation, then UNHCR is equally complicit in the violation of UN convention on refugees and asylum seekers. It is quite clear that Sawari took ten days to finally come forward because he had feared from the day he landed in Fiji that he would be DEPORTED to Papua New Guinea by Fiji's Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum, the man who himself
LIED
on his visa application to try and sneak into the United States

“A person who knowingly misleads or attempts to mislead any immigration officer in relation to any matter material to the performance or exercise by any immigration officer of any duty, function, power or discretion commits an offence.” - Aiyaz Khaiyum, justifying Sawari's deportation to PNG.

LAWLESS

Khaiyum explains why Sawari has been deported to PNG

By Vijay Narayan
Friday 03/02/2017
Fijivillage News

Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has stated that Loghman Sawari was deported from Fiji to Papua New Guinea today after entering Fiji on a Papua New Guinean passport.

Sayed-Khaiyum says Sawari is claiming to be a refugee but did not present himself as a refugee seeking asylum to immigration officials on arrival in Fiji, nor, after ten days, did he lodge an application for asylum, personally or through his lawyer.

The Attorney General also reveals that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has advised Fiji that Sawari is not recognised as a refugee under the UNHCR mandate.

Sayed-Khaiyum says UNHCR has further advised that he is a refugee recognised by Papua New Guinea under its national procedures, so Fiji has merely returned Sawari to his rightful place of residence. He also says Sawari eluded the authorities during his ten days in Fiji while posting photographs of himself on social media at various locations. Sayed-Khaiyum says under international law, anyone who is seeking political asylum is required to lodge an application without delay.

He says in the case of Sawari, this did not happen.

The Attorney General says Sawari’s lawyer who has been publicly advocating his position through the media, failed to facilitate a prompt application as required under international conventions pertaining to applications for refugee status. Sayed-Khaiyum also confirms that the authorities in Fiji have been informed by their Papua New Guinean counterparts that Sawari’s Papua New Guinea passport was obtained by fraudulent means.

He says on this basis, Sawari was also in breach of Fijian law which states that “a person who knowingly misleads or attempts to mislead any immigration officer in relation to any matter material to the performance or exercise by any immigration officer of any duty, function, power or discretion commits an offence.”

The Attorney General says the Government notes that Sawari is claiming that he feared for his life. He says this begs the question as to why for ten days he failed to file an application for asylum. Sayed-Khaiyum says despite several attempts by the Immigration Department to engage with Sawari, these attempts were ignored.

The Attorney General says Fiji remains fully committed to the Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, but we cannot tolerate a situation in which a person who is not an asylum seeker and who has already been granted refugee status in another country flagrantly violates the law.

Lautoka lawyer Aman Ravindra-Singh with his client Loghman Sawari's bags which he could not take with him after officials apprehended him

Lawyer: Iranian national entered Fiji on PNG passport
By NASIK SWAMI, Fiji Times,
Friday, February 03, 2017

THE lawyer for Iranian national Loghman Sawari who was deported from the country this morning says his client entered Fiji through legal means.

At a press conference in Suva in the last hour, Lautoka lawyer Aman Ravindra-Singh said his client entered the country on a Papua New Guinea passport and was granted a tourist visa on arrival at the Nadi International Airport.

Mr Ravindra-Singh, however, could not confirm whether the passport his client was carrying was legitimate.
He relayed that he was on his way to Suva to meet Immigration director Nemani Vuniwaqa and lodge his client's application to seek asylum in Fiji.

The lawyer said he was given the assurance from Mr Vuniwaqa that nothing would happen to his client.

However, Mr Ravindra-Singh said his journey with his client from Lautoka to Suva was halted after Police stopped his car and apprehended his client.

He said after putting his client into another car, the Police officers sped towards Sigatoka Town.

Mr Ravindra-Singh said he followed the vehicle that transported his client and the vehicle stopped at the town where his client was put into another vehicle driven by Immigration officials.

He said at that point, he questioned the immigration officials why they were taking his client, and the response he received from the officials was that "it was a directive".

Mr Ravindra-Singh said he was shown a paper that carried the letterhead of the Immigration Department for a few seconds and he was not able to gather the particulars of the letter.

He said his client was then taken to the Nadi International Airport and was put on the next flight bound for PNG.

Deportation breached international human rights law: Raj

THE Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission director, Ashwin Raj, says Fiji had breached international human rights laws by deporting Iranian national Loghman Sawari.

Mr Raj said the deportation raised fundamental questions about Fiji's capacity to balance the imperatives of national security with its international human rights laws.

He said the deportation showed that Fiji's immigration officials were not well versed with the laws and needed more training on the matter.

"From the perspective of international human rights law, Mr Sawari's deportation is contrary to international human rights law, and in particular Article 31, Article 32 and Article 33 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees which Fiji succeeded to in 1972," Mr Raj said at a press conference in Suva today.
Article 32 on expulsion provides that:

1. The contracting States shall not expel a refugee lawfully in their territory save on grounds of national security or public order;
2. The expulsion of such a refugee shall be only in pursuance of a decision reached in accordance with due process of law. Except where compelling reasons of national security otherwise require, the refugee shall be allowed to submit evidence to clear himself, and to appeal to and be represented for the purpose before competent authority or a person or persons specially designated by the competent authority; and
3. The Contracting States shall allow such a refugee a reasonable period within which to seek legal admission into another country. The Contracting States reserve the right to apply during that period such internal measures as they may deem necessary.

Mr Raj said the Commission was concerned that the deportation decision by the Immigration department had the possibility of exposing Mr Sawari to inhumane and degrading treatment. Source: Fiji Times, 3 February 2017

Fijileaks: The Law of Refugee Status has, at its core, five key elements of the Refugee Convention definition of refugee status:
(a) alienage;
(b) genuine risk;
(c) serious harm for which the state is accountable;
(d) nexus to civil or political status; and
(e) the need for and appropriateness of international protection

The questions to be addressed in the determination process, the students of refugee studies and asylum law are taught, are as follows: standard of proof in refugee claims; the use of international human rights law to inform refugee determination; the extent of a state's duty to protect its citizens; prosecution as distinguished from persecution; the violation of socio-economic human rights as the basis for a refugee claim; and the determination of claims grounded in generalised circumstances

Loghman Sawari pictured in Papua New Guinea in 2015

"Hopelessness and living in constant fear [in PNG] is leading him [Sawari] to consider drastic action. I also believe that his mental health is declining and is at a point where he needs to be given the support and safety very soon. I am very concerned for him. He is exhausted and I believe he is unable to continue. I also believe he will make some decisions that will see him either lose his life or at least end up more damaged."
Trauma worker Janet Galbraith to the UNHCR

http://www.fijileaks.com/home/escape-from-manus-island-iranian-refugee-seeks-asylum-in-fiji-scream-newspapers-around-the-world-and-on-the-internet-fijileaks-let-us-not-condemn-this-asylum-seeker-as-a-muslim-terrorist-but-hear-his-plea

Lawyer Aman Ravindra Singh said Sawari was in a “very, very horrible state” because of the aggression used to remove him. “He could have walked to the vehicle. He’s been through a lot. The way they did things, it was almost like special forces jumping out of nowhere, making the whole atmosphere so aggressive. It was totally uncalled for. Serious criminals walk free in this country whereas asylum seekers, genuine refugees, are treated like criminals.”

http://fijivillage.com/news/Deporting-Loghman-Sawari-to-PNG-is-a-good-decision---Chaudhry-sk259r/

Sawari in hospital after he was assaulted in the Manus Island detention camp by a security guard for asking for more washing powder

11 Comments

SAWARI: AMBUSHED AND DEPORTED BACK TO PAPUA NEW GUINEA

2/2/2017

7 Comments

"If I knew that this would have happened [Sawari snatched by Immigration officials on way to a 10.30 am meeting with the Director of Immigration in Suva] I would never have agreed to the meeting" -
Aman Ravindra Singh, lawyer for Sawari

IRANIAN national Loghman Sawari has been deported back to Papua New Guinea.

His lawyer Aman Ravindra-Singh confirmed the pair was intercepted by Police at Korotogo in Sigatoka at 7.30am today while on their way to Suva for a scheduled meeting with Director of Immigration Nemani Vuniwaqa.

He said his client was transported in a Police vehicle to the Nadi International Airport and had boarded a flight bound for Papua New Guinea. Source: The Fiji Times, 3 February 2017

MAHENDRA CHAUDHRY'S CALL ANSWERED
And those who despicably and repeatedly branded SAWARI a
"MUSLIM TERRORIST" celebrating with glee; he was not even accorded NATURAL JUSTICE to explain himself to the Immigration authorities.
SAWARI NABBED AND DEPORTED:

ACCORDING to UN reports and even PNG courts, 90 per cent of refugees on Manus Island are ruled to have valid claims but they are not allowed to settle in the Australian mainland, instead being allowed to stay in
Nauru or Papua New Guinea

We mustn't forget that Laisenia Qarase was deposed and chased out of Suva and was forced to remain on MAVANA ISLAND, with the current Police Commissioner threatening to KILL Qarase if he returned to Suva. Like the Iranian asylum seeker Sawari, Qarase was branded a
security risk to Fiji
Fijileaks:
Coming soon: How Qarase escaped the violent pursuit by Bainimarama and his military thugs. And how those who helped Qarase flee to Mavana, themselves fled to Australia and sought political asylum in that country. Luckily, they did not end up on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea
Frank Bainimarama to Laisenia Qarase, 5 December 2006:
“_ na cava tale dou se cakava tiko qori? Tukuna vua na luve ni magaitinana qori me sogota na gusuna de’u na lako yani i keri me’u yarataka na domona me vakavodoki i na waqa me fuck-off laivi i nodratou koro. Cava dou vinakata mo dou lai laulaumoku yani e keri? Dou veicai, sa oti na nomudou gauna. Tukuna vua na tamata qori me sogota na gusuna de’u na qai gole sobu yani me’u lai sogota vua”

It can be translated as follows: “_____, what else are you people doing there? Tell that son of his mother’s vagina (referring to the then Prime Minister, Mr Laisenia Qarase) to shut his mouth or I’ll come down there and drag him by the neck so that he can fuck-off to his village. Do you people want to be beaten up? You people fuck each other, your time is over. Tell that person (again referring to Mr Qarase) to shut his mouth or I’ll come down to shut it for him.”

BY VICTOR LAL
The Fiji Sun,
10 January 2008

In the days leading up to the 5 December 2006 coup the cat and mouse chase forced Laisenia Qarase, at the time the duly elected Prime Minister of Fiji, to finally flee to the safety of his home in Mavana in Vanuabalavu. He remained there and only returned to Suva to prepare for his court case against his deposers.

The question that the recent High Court judgment did not address, and I accept that it was not asked to consider, was whether the military, in confining Qarase to Mavana, was acting on the supposed and invisible “reserve powers” vested in the President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo.

And if the military was acting on the “reserve powers”, where did the military, through the President, get that power to confine the deposed Prime Minister in Mavana?

In a series of articles I will be arguing, based on the availability of new evidence as contained in the various court affidavits and other reliable sources, that the President’s constitutional powers ended the moment he allowed Commodore Frank Bainimarama to “step into his shoes” and all acts performed by the military afterwards in the President’s name, with or without his consent and blessing, has no basis in constitutional law.
In fact, the President did not have the reserve powers to perform the series of acts in the manner he did following the 2006 coup.

During the run up to the coup, I was under the impression that he was a neutral arbiter but evidence suggests to the contrary, especially his address to the nation: “In any case, given the circumstances I would have done exactly what the Commander of the RFMF Josaisa Voreqe Bainimarama did since it was necessary to do so at that time.”

As a result, I am departing from my own earlier arguments, which were previously based on skeleton evidence available to us.

Meanwhile, I disagree with the interim Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum’s warning to the media that he would not tolerate any contempt of court and comments on the recent judgment and anybody bringing the judiciary or the administration of justice into contempt will be called to account for their actions. I presume he knows better as a student of law that the conduct of the judges and their judgements are open to scrutiny once a judgement has been delivered by a court: In Attorney General v Butterworth [1963] 1 Q.B. 696 it was held that at common law, “a contempt of court is an act or omission calculated to interfere with the due administration of justice.” He must remember that the High Court has already delivered its verdict.

His constant threats to the media only re-enforce “the all-too-common tendency to view the attorney-general and his department as no more than the law firm that is always on call to serve the interest of the political party that is in power at the time”.

The A-G, despite his political role, and as supporter and adviser to the government, is meant to wear an apolitical hat in his parens patriae role as guardian of the public interest. The judiciary and the media are also guardians of the public interest.

In his fifth edition of Media Law (2008) Geoffrey Robertson QC, who successfully argued the Chandrika Prasad case before Justice Gates, writes on the issue of scandalising the court: “Scandalising the court was invented in the eighteenth century to punish radical critics of the establishment, such as John Wilkes [In the context of 18th century politics it was an attempt to protect Lord Mansfield from reasoned criticism of his oppressive judicial behaviour towards Wilkes and other critics of the Government].

Despite its apparent breadth, scandalising the court should not prevent criticism of the judiciary even when expressed in strong terms. “Justice is not a cloistered virtue” a senior Law Lord (Lord Atkin, Ambard v Att-Gen for Trinidad and Tobago, 1936), once said, and comment about the legal system in general or the handling of particular cases once they are over sometimes deserves to be trenchant… Scandalising the court is an anachronistic form of contempt.

Lord Diplock (Secretary of State for Defence v Guardian Newspapers Ltd (1985) has described it as “virtually obsolescent in the United Kingdom” and it has not been used here for 60 years.”

In their ruling in Qarase and Others v Bainimarama and Others, the three judges, acting Chief Justice Anthony Gates and Justices John Bryne and Davendra Pathik barely touched on Qarase’s enforced confinement on Mavava, but noted: “In his pleadings Mr Qarase stated, ‘The next morning the Prime Minister escaped from Suva’. The defendants claim he left Suva that day, 6th December 2006, only to return to Suva on 4 October 2007.

In his evidence Mr Qarase said he returned on 1 September 2007.

I must confess that academic lawyers (and practising lawyers and judges) not familiar with the events of 5 December 2006 will not be a position to do a thorough and just critique of the High Court judgment because Qarase’s legal arguments are woefully absent in the judgment.

Also, unlike Qarase who agreed to testify, both the President Ratu Josefa and Bainimarama (who flew all the way to New York to explain his actions to the UN General Assembly), chose not to appear before the High Court and to be cross-examined about their roles in the events prior to, during, and after the 2006 coup.

According to Qarase’s affidavit to the High Court of 24 September 2007, the following chain of events occurred: (1) That since 6 December 2006, my freedom of movement was confined to my home island of Vanuabalavu in the Lau Group. My wish to return to Suva was prevented by threats against my safety and liberty regularly announced publicly by the First (Bainimarama) and Second (RFMF) Defendants in the local media. The only airline that services my island, Air Fiji, was reluctant to transport me out of Vanuabalavu for fear of Military reprisals. On 4 January, 2007 I received a telephone call from a person who identified himself as a Major Sitiveni Qilio in the Second Defendant warning me that I would be arrested by the Second Defendant, if I returned to Suva.
(2) That my application to this Court, through my lawyer, for orders to direct the First and Second Defendants not to impose restrictions on my freedom of movement guaranteed under the Constitution was opposed by the First and Second Defendants, and I crave leave to refer to their affidavit thereon sworn by one Major Sitiveni Tukaituraga Qiliho on 2.5.07, but this Honourable Court granted that order on 11.6.07, and I crave leave to refer to the said order.
(3) That despite the order of this Court described in paragraph 5 herein, and despite the fact that there was no state of emergency then existing, and despite the fact that there was no other legal restriction imposed upon me, the Chief Executive Officer of Air Fiji informed me by telephone on 28.8.07 that his airline was unable to transport me to Suva by a chartered flight on 29.8.07 as planned, because Air Fiji was warned by the Second Defendant not to transport me from Vanuabalavu. There was wide local and international publicity about and condemnation of these continuing efforts by the Second Defendant to restrict my freedom of movement, in particular regarding my return to Suva to help prepare for my case. I can understand why the Chief Executive of Air Fiji has denied his telephone confirmation to me that he was instructed by the Second Defendant not to transport me to Suva. I was to charter one of their aircraft, and his Company needed the business, and this made his initial confirmation about his inability to transport me to Suva more credible, i.e. out of fear of possible military reprisals.
(4) That I also received a phone call on 28.8.07, in which a person who identified himself as calling from the Fiji Military Forces Camp threatened that I would be killed on arrival, if I returned to Suva.
The First and Second Defendants have denied and continue to deny any role in restricting my freedom of movement and the threats against my safety and liberty conveyed to me by telephone.
Strangely, coincidentally, Fiji Air’s reluctance to accept our request to charter one of their aircraft to transport me to Suva was refused on the same day.
I sincerely believe that the Second Defendants have had difficulty not only in denying that these events did take place, but more importantly in denying that they knew.
Moreover, the silent majority of the public of Fiji are familiar with this tactic of denials by the First and Second Defendants about their regime of violations of human rights since 5th December, 2006.
(5) That as a result of these difficulties, I did not manage to return to Suva by chartered flight until 1.9.07.

However, immediately before and since returning to Suva, incidents which continue to demonstrate the Second Defendant’s determined effort to restrict my freedom of movement, freedom of expression, freedom of association, and other human rights principles enshrined in the Constitution.”

In its judgment the High Court relied on the invisible powers of the English kings on the question of prerogative in sanctioning the President’s actions.

But we might want to recall that in the Magna Carta there is a ringing expression of freedom for mankind in the world over:

“No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or deprived or outlawed or exiled or in any way ruined, nor will we go or send against him, except by the lawful judgments of his peers or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice.”

A year later, in 2009, the Fiji Court of Appeal ruled that the President did not have "reserve powers" as Victor Lal had argued in his own analysis

STRIDING IN STEP: Chaudhry as Bainimarama's
Interim Finance Minister after the 2006 coup

"This [2006] coup is different because the Qarase Government was so awful...Fiji could not have survived another five years." -
Mahendra Chaudhry to then US ambassador Larry Dinger
"Mahendra Chaudhry, former PM deposed by the 2000 coup and still head of the FLP, phoned today to let the Ambassador know he intends to accept Bainimarama's offer of the Finance, Public Enterprises, and Sugar Reform portfolios. He put it in terms of having to move Fiji forward and get back to democracy ASAP. When the Ambassador noted how disastrous the past coups had been for Fiji and for Chaudhry personally on two occasions, Chaudhry suggested this coup is different because the Qarase Government was so awful...Fiji could not have survived another five years...Interim Finance Minister Chaudhry is showing his vindictive side. Under the interim government, Chaudhry crony Vayeshnoi is Sports Minister and Chaudhry son Rajendra is on the FSC Board." :
The former US Ambassador to Fiji, Larry Dinger to Washington

PRIME MINISTER TO PRISON
(A Targetted Victim of 2006 Coup)

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HEALTHY DOSE: "Jingle Bell" Nurses breathe sigh of relief - case close!

2/2/2017

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HEALTH Minister Rosy Akbar has put to rest the 'jingle nurses' case

At this morning's visit of the Labasa Hospital, Ms Akbar told staff that the incident had served as a good reminder for medical personnel to know the importance of maintaining professional attitude at all times.

The incident involved nurses of Labasa Hospital singing a Christmas Jingle during a party in the festive season that copped criticisms from members of the public. Source: The Fiji Times

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LET DONALD TRUMP WITNESS CLIMATE CHANGE: PM Bainimarama correct to invite skeptic Trump to see effects of climate change on Fiji

2/2/2017

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Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says that despite the US President Donald Trump backing off from supporting climate change assistance, we will go ahead and invite him to Fiji to see the effects of climate change.

Bainimarama made this comment in a press conference with UNFCCC Executive Secretary Particia Espinosa this afternoon (2 February 2017)

He says that we are going to deal with it, invite the US President to Fiji then only he will be able to see what Fiji is going through.

He says he had a very good discussion with the Secretary on UN’s negotiations on climate change for Cop 23.
He says this is a huge responsibility that Fiji has been given and Fiji will grab every possible way to assist to move the negotiations ahead.

Meanwhile, Espinosa assured the Prime Minister that they will support him.

She says they will ensure that the concerns of the vulnerable countries are taken into consideration. Fijivillage News

BRIDGING THE GAP: Chinese donate sea wall to Fiji

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"SODELPA [is] infested with people who can't move, it's been top-heavy and this (resignation) will create a bit of a movement"; Baba as he resigns from party; Kepa nominates Rabuka to Constitutional Offices Commission

1/2/2017

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Dr Baba resigns from SODELPA

The Fiji Times, Thursday, February 02, 2017

VETERAN politician and one of the founding members of the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) Dr Tupeni Baba has resigned.

Dr Baba confirmed his resignation from the party yesterday and will join the proposed Hope Party as its adviser ahead of the 2018 General Election. The academic expects other resignations to follow from within the party in the coming months.

"SODELPA has been infested with people who can't move, it's been top-heavy and this (resignation) will create a bit of a movement," Dr Baba said.

He said his reason to leave was because the party got stuck since its former leader Laisenia Qarase was jailed in 2012.

Dr Baba said the party had also gone against its own democratic constitution by appointing Sitiveni Rabuka as its new leader.

"A coup man came in and the essence of SODELPA was democracy, the party to be absolutely democratic. We developed a democratic constitution, everything was decided by majority and then we had a new leadership," he said.

Dr Baba said the party's leadership was rooted in the coup. He said his decision to break away from a party which he started in 2012 was not an easy one, but he had a lot to offer to the proposed party which is women and youth-centred.

Yesterday, party general secretary Adi Litia Qionibaravi wished Dr Baba well. Adi Litia said the resignation would not affect the party.

"SODELPA will continue and we are becoming stronger than ever," she said.

Mr Rabuka had already outlined that if people had any problems with the party to come forward and tell him directly.

Kepa's pick

The Fiji Times, Thursday, February 02, 2017

AFTER objecting strongly to Sitiveni Rabuka's appointment as leader of Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), Opposition Leader Ro Teimumu Kepa has nominated Rabuka to the Constitutional Offices Commission.

Confirming this in an interview last night, Ro Teimumu said she nominated Mr Rabuka to the commission last week.

She said she was yet to receive a confirmation from the commission secretariat on Mr Rabuka's nomination.
Ro Teimumu's nomination is to replace Suva lawyer Richard Naidu who resigned from the commission in November, 2015.

Mr Naidu resigned as a member of the commission saying he did not want to be a rubber stamp to decisions being made by the commission chairman.

Last year, Ro Teimumu had objected strongly to Mr Rabuka's appointment as the new SODELPA leader.

She strongly voiced her dissatisfaction over his appointment, saying she did not support coup perpetrators.

The commission, established under Section 132 of the Constitution of the Republic of Fiji, is responsible for providing advice to the President for the appointment of a number of Constitutional Offices.

These include the chairperson and the members of the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission, the chairperson and the members of the Electoral Commission, Supervisor of Elections, Commissioner of Police, Commissioner of the Fiji Corrections Service, Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces and the Auditor-General.

The commission members include the Prime Minister who is also the chairperson, the Attorney-General and the Leader of the Opposition.

There are also two persons appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister, who are Sanjay Kaba and Ajith Kodagoda.

And there is one person appointed by the President on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition.

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FIJI HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION reads the Refugee Convention to those calling for the arrest and detention of the Iranian asylum seeker

1/2/2017

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"I am therefore asking all political parties to refrain from politicising this highly-sensitive issue, recognise the humanity of this individual and the enormous trauma he is going through and let the relevant authorities address this issue keeping in mind not only the legislative framework governing Fiji in relation to immigration but also our human rights obligations." - Ashwin Raj

Ashwin Raj reads out the Refugee Convention act

The Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission has strongly condemned statements made by the FLP and other political parties who had called for the immediate arrest of the Iranian Refugee Loghman Sawari who is seeking political asylum in Fiji

"I wish to remind the Fiji Labour Party and all other political actors that apart from the national legislations pertaining to immigration, Fiji succeeded to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1972 and therefore, Fiji has legal and moral obligations in relation to international human rights norms and conventions," said director Ashwin Raj.

In a statement issued yesterday, he cited Article 31 (1) of the 1951 Convention, which said that Contracting States would not impose penalties, on account of the illegal entry or presence of refugees who came from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened.

The convention said this was provided the refugees presented themselves without delay to the authorities and showed good cause for their illegal entry or presence.

Mr Raj said the convention also clearly stated that Contracting States would not apply restriction of movement other than that which was necessary until the refugees status in the country was regularised or if they obtained admission into another country.

"I am therefore asking all political parties to refrain from politicising this highly-sensitive issue, recognise the humanity of this individual and the enormous trauma he is going through and let the relevant authorities address this issue keeping in mind not only the legislative framework governing Fiji in relation to immigration but also our human rights obligations." Source: Fiji Times, 2 February 2017

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From Fijileaks Archive, 19 May 2015

I really miss him, says Sawari aider By Felix Chaudhary And Margaret WiseThe Fiji TimesSaturday, 4 February 2017

“A person who knowingly misleads or attempts to mislead any immigration officer in relation to any matter material to the performance or exercise by any immigration officer of any duty, function, power or discretion commits an offence.” - Aiyaz Khaiyum, justifying Sawari's deportation to PNG.

"If I knew that this would have happened [Sawari snatched by Immigration officials on way to a 10.30 am meeting with the Director of Immigration in Suva] I would never have agreed to the meeting" - Aman Ravindra Singh, lawyer for Sawari

MAHENDRA CHAUDHRY'S CALL ANSWERED And those who despicably and repeatedly branded SAWARI a "MUSLIM TERRORIST" celebrating with glee; he was not even accorded NATURAL JUSTICE to explain himself to the Immigration authorities.SAWARI NABBED AND DEPORTED:

ACCORDING to UN reports and even PNG courts, 90 per cent of refugees on Manus Island are ruled to have valid claims but they are not allowed to settle in the Australian mainland, instead being allowed to stay inNauru or Papua New Guinea

A year later, in 2009, the Fiji Court of Appeal ruled that the President did not have "reserve powers" as Victor Lal had argued in his own analysis

PRIME MINISTER TO PRISON(A Targetted Victim of 2006 Coup)

Archives

I really miss him, says Sawari aider
By Felix Chaudhary And Margaret Wise
The Fiji Times
Saturday, 4 February 2017

"If I knew that this would have happened [Sawari snatched by Immigration officials on way to a 10.30 am meeting with the Director of Immigration in Suva] I would never have agreed to the meeting" -
Aman Ravindra Singh, lawyer for Sawari

MAHENDRA CHAUDHRY'S CALL ANSWERED
And those who despicably and repeatedly branded SAWARI a
"MUSLIM TERRORIST" celebrating with glee; he was not even accorded NATURAL JUSTICE to explain himself to the Immigration authorities.
SAWARI NABBED AND DEPORTED:

ACCORDING to UN reports and even PNG courts, 90 per cent of refugees on Manus Island are ruled to have valid claims but they are not allowed to settle in the Australian mainland, instead being allowed to stay in
Nauru or Papua New Guinea

PRIME MINISTER TO PRISON
(A Targetted Victim of 2006 Coup)