REGIME'S BRUTAL BEASTS: Police and Army officers sent to destroy drug farms in Sigatoka brutally assaulted the suspects - and hid their crimes since 2009. One of the soldiers now on an overseas mission!

12/7/2016

Fijileaks: We have called for Sitiveni Rabuka's Immunity to be stripped (or he should volunteer to do so) so we can try him and the present thugs!

PICTURES of Fijian suspects beaten by security forces were taken during a drug raid in 2009 and suppressed under censorship laws enforced by the interim government. Relatives of the men from the western provinces of Nadroga and Navosa have identified the police officer responsible for the beating as a national rugby player. "We are thankful that the pictures have been made public - it's about time people know what went on," a relative of one of three the men in the pictures said this hour. "Police threatened to kill us at the time. If the Police Commissioner wants to talk we will talk to him. "The truth must be told." Pictures released to Islands Business show that one of the men was scalded with boiling water by a policeman during the raid. Police Commissioner, Brigadier Sitiveni Qiliho, has promised to investigate allegations of police brutality.

One of the men was scalded with boiling water by a policeman during the raid

"It was in May or June 2009. I had hot water poured on my back. It was still boiling. You know how one is tortured; it was with knives and sticks. I think there were about 20 of them. I still have scars on my back. Sometimes I have flashbacks of what happened, when people experience these things they sometimes have flashbacks of the incident. I was admitted for three weeks in hospital after the incident. Our case was then dismissed and we reconciled" - Vilimoni Mateiwai, of Nakoro Village in Navosa

This soldier who took part in the 2009 beatings is serving overseas!

11 Comments

King Rat

13/7/2016 09:07:48 am

What about the welfare of the victims of these drug cultivators and pushers?

Why are we so fixated on the rights of the perpetrators of crime (criminals), rather than on the victims?

Just wondering, aye?

Vili

13/7/2016 10:14:55 am

Yes, indeed.

Why should we care about these low-life scumbags who are prepared to exploit others for their own ends?

They wanna play the game; they face the risks.

I have no sympathy for these criminals!

Socho

13/7/2016 11:43:09 am

Silly Vili what about the criminals in power who were prepared to exploit others for their own ends?
I suppose for morally bankrupt people like you that variety of criminals are okay. You probably benefit from them being in power, which they acquired unlawfully, in case you have forgotten.

Samjha

13/7/2016 10:16:36 am

And we have been told democracy has returned to Fiji. Is this the" true democracy" the thugs in power promised?
Well, they are sure as hell delivering on their promise!

Pita

13/7/2016 10:38:17 am

King Rat I despair for you. Under our justice system a person is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty in s Court of law.
Security forces do not have the right to physically harm any suspect. The Police Commissioner should be be held accountable for those gross transgressions committed by his men in Navosa. He is basically incompetent and should be booted out

Dekho

14/7/2016 10:44:15 pm

The presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a competent, impartial and independent court of law is what you have in a genuine democracy. Fiji does not have that. What Fiji has is a dictatorship masquerading as a democracy with all the accompanying paraphernalia. In a genuine democracy the Police Commissioner whose men were engaged in torture would have had to relinquish his position. Nothing like that will happen in Fiji. A dictatorship is not governed by democratic processes and conventions.

splashViti

13/7/2016 01:29:17 pm

There is no justification, or excuse, for torture. Period.

I understand the PolCom then was Teleni but their game of musical chairs has brought in the present PolCom, Qiliho whom we can't have much hope in since he led the firebombing of Justice Gordon Ward's retirement home in Pacific Harbour back in 2009 while AG ASK gave the judge (who was then President of the Court of Appeal) 2 hours to pack up and get out of the country.

So law enforcement has been compromised for a very long time under Fiji's culture of impunity. Should we then be surprised to see all shades of scumbags having a go at enriching themselves? From the ill-clad to the tuxedo-attired?

I had hoped back in 2013 when this constitution was being forced on us (and Yash Ghai's widely consulted one, burnt), that SLR would publicly renounce his immunity so that the present lot would not have a foot to stand on. Perhaps he's thinking he would make things right and bring them all down so the country can start on a clean slate without any of them at the helm.

Rajend Naidu

13/7/2016 09:34:26 pm

In the 1980s when no coup had happened in Fiji and the then Chief Magistrate Gordon Ward came to hear the cases scheduled at the Taveuni Court he took the ferry from Waiyevo to Buca Bay and then a lift in my government ( social welfare )vehicle to Savusavu .Contrast that with the way the political elite conduct themselves at public expense in post coup Fiji.

splashViti

13/7/2016 02:53:17 pm

King Rat,

I knew your post reminded me of an incident in the holy gospels so I had to look it up and here it is: "The Anointing at Bethany - John 12:1-8" . In this passage,
Judas had reprimanded Mary for using a pound of costly perfume with which she anointed Jesus' feet (a customary act) when he came to visit Mary, Martha and Lazarus who were his friends. Judas said to Mary that she could've sold the perfume and given the money to the poor. However, Jesus, being who He is, (the Son of God and both man + divinity) knew that "Judas did not say this out of a genuine concern for the poor" since he was a thief who looked after the disciples' collective purse and used to help himself to the contents...

Escobar

13/7/2016 05:04:06 pm

Old and stale news. Nothing new in this kakase column.

Brig

14/7/2016 10:38:25 pm

Escobar, boci... There's no kakase going on. Read and learn from the learned participants comments!

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