 ON THE RUN FROM JUSTICE: Bainimarama with Davis We publish below excerpts of the exclusive interview Frank Bainimarama gave on his 55th birthday to Graham Davis for SkyNews Australia. The video was uploaded by SkyNews Australia on 2 May 2009 Davis: You were nearly killed? How close save was it? Bainimarama: Very close. We were here having lunch when the rebel soldiers came across – and three of my bodyguards then closed in and helped my escape – they held the fort here while I moved away from here You wanted to kill Captain Shane Stevens? Is that true that you wanted to shoot him yourself personally? No, that’s not true that I wanted to shoot him personally– In fact, I was in hospital when he was brought in. I went to visit some of my soldiers that got shot that day. And I stopped the guys from going in to bring him out I saved the life of one of the guys that eventually got killed…He was brought down to the naval base. When you say you saved his life? When you say you saved the life of the man….You stopped them from killing him? Initially. I didn’t stop them from killing him. I stopped them from bashing him up. But they killed him later? Sometime later on They were beaten to death, won’t they? They were beaten to death. It was spur of the moment. And I can understand the emotions that went through the troops on that day. In fact, I can say that they were very lucky that they all lived Did you want them dead? I didn’t want them dead but I wanted them punished – You must understand it was a mutiny. These guys came in to kill us – I don’t think a lot of people understand that? These guys came in to kill us. So people really don’t expect us to kiss them on their cheeks. |      SERVING TIME: While Shane Stevens is serving his time, Bainimarama is still on the run. The then Acting Police Commissioner Moses Driver had pronounced the deaths as murder and launched an investigation – Bainimarama remains the principal person of interest in the murder inquiry. To date, no one has been charged over those murders. |
CRW soldier Selesitino Kalounivale was taken to Bainimarama at the Naval Base (where he had fled during the mutiny) who instructed his soldiers to take Kalounivale to Central Police Station. He was later taken out of CPS by soldiers and battered to death; Kalounivale had taken no part in the mutiny; he was home attending to his sick child on mutiny day
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The Widow's Torment, 13 Years On; and Post Mortem Report:
