Nazhat Shameem indirectly shows her support for Fiji junta’s illegal decrees

Nazhat Shameem and her bleached-haired sis, Shaista Shameem, are two controversial women who were suspected of being part of the shadowy figures advisory team behind Frank’s 2006 coup, right from the word go.

Shaista Shameem did not waste time in showing her true color as she unleashed her Fiji Human Wrongs Commission filth soon after the coup.

Her high court judge sis, Nazhat Shameem chose to play it smooth.

While everyone knew her role as a key masterminder in telling Frank how to play his coup game, Nazhat smartly smokescreened her dark side by pretending to have upheld the 1997 Constitution in her refusal to re-enter the judiciary when Fiji’s 1997 Constitution was claimed to have been abrogated over the Easter weekend.

A few months on, Nazhat is feeling edgey in her poorly disguised form with an overwhelming urge to start implementing illegal laws that is close to her heart.

It was the anti-regime blog again that blew her cover when they exposed Nazhat Shameem Consultancy works with illegal Anthony Gates and his illegitimate judiciary.

Now that her real coup supporter and masterminder self is on display in the public arena, madam Nazhat Shameem immediately sort public relations assistance from another well known coup supporter reporter, Communications Fiji News Director, Vijay Narayan.

Nazhat’s voice is what people in Fiji have been hearing as head news on Communications Fiji radio stations today.

In it, she is explaining the real meaning of the junta’s Domestic Violence Decree, eventhough she knows full well that the decree she’s supporting and training people on is illegal.

The news item also says that she is training certain groups on the interpretation of the new decree.

So what exactly is Nazhat Shameem saying?

One –  she recognises the junta’s illegal decree hence her willingness to promote it.

Two – she is the architect of the decree since she is able to give its real interpretation in the manner that it should be understood.

Three – she does not uphold Fiji’s supreme law of the land, the 1997 Constitution and has fully accepted, agreed and acknowledged its purported abrogation by promoting an illegal decree. It also means that she could very well have been an orchestrator in the constitution abrogation attempt.

Four – she is a terrorist to the democratic ideals by pushing for changes in Fiji’s law via the junta decrees and not through the voice of the people through the ballot box and their representative in Parliament. She is really an impatient, law-breaker who has no respect for the majority’s wishes.

Five – she, like Anthony Gates, Aiyaz Khaiyum, Aziz Mohammed and Ana Rokomokoti are the real terrorists who are raping the Fiji populace with their sick pervertial act to impose their illegal laws onto the helpless Fijian populace.

We say, the real 2006 coup key players are beginning to come out of the wood works . Fijian peoples’ patience and resilience is working with the junta and their masterminders already tripping on their own dirty tricks.

Without lifting a finger, the Fijian populace will soon see the demise of Frank & Co and his terrorist advicers, not from outside forces but from within!

Watch!

The BP Oil deal is still on : Sereana Qoro to FHL shareholders at AGM

“The BP Oil deal is still on”, said FHL CEO Sereana Qoro to the company’s shareholders during its annual general meetingtwo weeks ago.

In her little dark gloomy deceitful world, this pro-regime CEO is still hallucinating about the failed BP Oil deal that cost FHL shareholders more than $3.7 million with a whooping $750,000 on travelling expenses alone for her and Aziz Mohammed while they zig zagged the world pretending to be wheeling and dealing an already doomed sale and purchase agreement with BP SouthWest Pacific.

Now with the confirmation that Tahitian based Pacific Petroleum Company is buying BP SW Pacific, Sereana Qoro’s lie at the FHL AGM proves once more that the lady is simply incompetent and bad news to that once thriving investment company.

Her unwillingness to voluntarily step down from the CEO position after her brainchild BP Oil acquisition initiative went belly up just comes to show how desperate Sereana Qoro is in retaining her job to pay her more million dollars debt.

And naturally for desperados like her and other incompetent coup supporters, she will continue to lie to cover up her last lie until her lies eat her up alive.

- phd246

 

Fiji’s 2006 coup big kahunas are coming out of the woodworks

As the evidence emerges Gates role and support for this disastrous coup is becoming clearer. He poses a significant threat to the democratic freedom of Fijians and a security threat to the region. Along with the illegal solicitor general and democracy destoyers such as the khaiyum brothers, shameen sisters, colonel aziz mohammed and the sahu khans, Fiji as a nation is being rapedd of its freedom, rule of law and human rights.

nopryde

I find it hard to recognise the same individual (Anthony Gates) : Peter Ridgway

Exerpt from Radio Australia interview

The central role that he’s (Anthony Gates) playing in the dispute has come as a surprise to those who’ve known the approach he’s taken to his legal career over a number of years. Peter Ridgway served as deputy director in Fiji’s Department of Public Prosecutions. He playing a key role in dealing with the perpetrators of the 2000 coup led by George Speight.

PETER RIDGWAY: His role in recent events particularly in the post-Bainimarama coup and things that have followed, it is very difficult to reconcile with the highly principled staunch defender of the judiciary and the constitution that I worked with in 2001-2005 period. So I find it very hard to recognise the same individual.

Fiji’s illegal Chief Justice Anthony Gates big gamble

If Mr Justice Gates has read the opinion of Professor Jennifer Corrin of the University of Queensland law school he must be feeling very nervous.

According to Professor Corrin, “Knowingly accepting judicial appointment from an illegal regime…has the potential for criminal repercussions.”

“In Fiji, this could amount to an act of treason under the Penal Code.” Obviously the illegal regime is not likely to prosecute the judges it appoints, but what happens if there is a change of regime and the constitution is re-instated.

For Mr Justice Gates, the risk of criminal prosecution is substantially greater. Thanks to the Chandrika Prasad case, he knows very well what the law is.

We can be very sure that he is familiar with the words of Lord Pearce in Madzimbamuto: “I accept the existence of the principle that acts done by those actually in control without lawful validity may be recognized as valid or acted upon by the courts, WITH CERTAIN LIMITATIONS.”

And what are the limitations Lord Pearce had in mind? Acts can be valid “so far as they are not intended to and do not in fact directly help the usurpation.”

Mr Justice Gates knows that the purported abrogation of constitution is “usurpation”. The constitution has not gone away. It remains quietly in the background, held back only by force of arms, and it renders all the acts of the usurpers illegal and treasonous.

This is in fact the reason why Gates became so desperate to have the other judges from overseas join him. He thinks they make his position look respectable legally.

But the fact is they do nothing of the sort. Gates’ role in the Chandrika Prasad case places his guilt on an entirely different level to the newcomers.

Once we have regime change and Gates is on trial, he would need to argue against everything he said in the Chandrika Prasad case, while the prosecutor would need to do little more than read the Gates judgment to the court. What a spectacle that will be!

And what happens if one or more of the new judges resigns because they recognize the illegality of a legal system based on decrees without a constitution or grow tired of the heavy hand of the jumped-up junior military legal officer who now lords it over the entire legal profession?

Navosavakadua

Will Suva lose the Pacific Forum Secretariat?

Will Suva lose the Pacific Forum Secretariat?

Fallout from the military regime’s shock expulsion of Australian and New Zealand diplomats has a frightening potential to extend well beyond tit-for-tat diplomacy.
For example, could the Pacific-wide ripple effect trigger a decision to move the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat out of Suva?
That may well be the case. While the regime’s actions were directed at unambiguously at Australia and New Zealand, the dictator’s unwarranted and unilateral hostility has impacted right across the Pacific.
It’s not just Australia and New Zealand who now have cause for increasing concern. The expulsions, the continuing human rights abuses and the downward spiral of Fiji’s fragile economy add up to a new and unpalatable reality that all Pacific nations must face.
The reality is that, after three years of economic chaos, broken promises and increasingly isolationist behaviour, Bainimarama is fast turning our Fiji into a pariah state.
And in a region focused on meeting the challenges of economic development and increasing prosperity, who needs a pariah?
If the Forum headquarters are moved to another Pacific country it would be a body blow for our already badly weakened economy.
The secretariat employs roughly 100 expatriate and local staff whose combined pay-checks represent millions of dollars in consumer spending every year. That’s what at stake.
If the worst happens there’s no doubt the dictator will accuse Australia and New Zealand of being behind the move. But he will be wrong, just as he’s wrong on Fiji’s ousting from the Forum.
The dictator conveniently overlooks the fact that the Forum’s vote to suspend Fiji’s membership was unanimous. Forum members acted as one in their response to a military regime that consistently refuses to toe a civilised line,
Similarly, any decision to select a new home for the Forum Secretariat will be down to the entire Forum membership, not just Australia and New Zealand.
And make no mistake. Pacific Forum members fully understand that their strength lies in unity.
It’s therefore no surprise that the latest regional stoush sparked by the dictator only made Forum countries all the more wary and distrustful of Fiji under Frank Bainimarama.
But on the issue of relocating the Secretariat there’s another important factor that is influencing Forum members’ thinking.
If you are a small developing Pacific economy, being selected as the new permanent home of a major institution such as the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat is no small deal.
Take the dictator’s on-again-off-again mate. Sir Michael Somare. He knows only too well he’d get a huge political boost by snaring the Forum Secretariat for Port Moresby.
And why would Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele ignore such a golden opportunity? Not only could he land a very, very big fish to help sustain his tiny nation, but there’s the added attraction of being able to give Frank Bainimarama a very public one finger salute, no doubt with considerable feeling.
Yes folks, it’s only too easy to see how Frank’s latest antics have suddenly made re-location of the Forum’s Secretariat a hot topic on the Forum agenda.
For the sake of our beloved nation, we at FDN want the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat to remain in Fiji.
Because our loss would not be just someone else’s gain.
It would be one more of those big, cruel nails that our dictator, Frank Bainimarama, seems so insanely intent on hammering into Fiji’s coffin.

Fiji Democracy Now

What is Frank worried about?

Freedom bloggers have been at work from the very beginning of the coup, so what has Frank so worried? Why has he put all the effort into blocking blogsites?

Does he fear they’ll learn the truth behind all the lies about Sri Lankan judges being denied transit visas? Could be, but there’s another possibility.

It could also that the expulsion of the New Zealand and Australian High Commissioners was just a stunt, a diversion to take our attention of the real worry Frank has – namely his discontented Land Force Commander.

Frank seized power by force, so the possibility that power will be taken from his the same way is always in his mind.
But why now?

Well think about what else was happening at the same time. First, out of nowhere, Frank decided to confirm Nailatikau as President. He said cabinet had decided and then said cabinet would name the day. So why did they decide and not name the day?

Then, not long after that we hear that Driti has been posted to Iraq.

Is there a link? Had Driti given an ultimatum to the dictator to appoint Nailatikau as President? Did he have the backing of the Military Council? Was the military council and the Mara clan afraid that if the dictator made himself President he would soon be in a position to systematically remove anyone he feared as a rival or dissident?

We also know that Driti challenged the dictator over the issue of the influence exerted by Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
What a perfect way to throw the whole business into confusion. He picks a big fight so that he can force all the troops to get behind him and at the same time announces that Driti’s off to Iraq.

But at the back of his tiny mind there’s still a worry. What if Driti calls his bluff and puts together a small team to take Frank out? And this is probably more than just Frank’s paranoia. He knows that Driti is a real soldier, with real experience, and has strong ties to the men who have served with him in operations.

Feeling under threat like this Frank feels desperate to control the information going to his troops. He can’t afford to have them reading about the way Aiyaz pulls his strings and is the real force behind the government.

Navosavakadua

0

EU regrets Fiji expulsion of top envoys

THE European Union expressed regret on Tuesday at a decision by Fiji’s military leader to expel top envoys from Australia and New Zealand, and urged the Pacific Island nation not to isolate itself.

“This development signals a further deterioration of the relations of Fiji with the international community, undermining progress towards re-engagement and dialogue,” EU president Sweden said in a statement.

“By isolating itself, Fiji puts at risk the concerted efforts to bring about the return of rule of law and democracy,” it said.

“The EU appeals to Fiji and all its partners to work together to engage in meaningful dialogue and thus prevent further negative developments.”

The 27-nation bloc also reiterated concern about continued military rule in Fiji – the military ousted the elected government in a coup in December 2006 – and urged the interim administration to move quickly to restore democracy.

On November 3, self-appointed Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama announced that the heads of the Australian and New Zealand missions in Fiji would be expelled, triggering tit-for-tat expulsions from Wellington and Canberra.

Fiji was suspended from the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum in May and from the Commonwealth in September over broken promises to hold elections by March this year.

Australia and New Zealand have been at the forefront of international condemnation of Bainimarama’s regime and their travel sanctions on people associated with the regime prompted the expulsion of their envoys from Suva.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,,26334591-1702,00.html

Leaked documents reveal role of Fiji CJ in envoys expulsion

Fresh details are emerging about the role of Fiji’s Chief Justice in the recent explusions of Australia’s High Commissioner from Suva and Fiji’s representative from Canberra. A memorandum from the Chief Justice Anthony Gates, who is also an Australian citizen, all but urges Fiji’s military ruler to take action over the travel bans that he says stopped Sri Lankan judges taking up positions on the Fiji judiciary.

Presenter: Shane McLeod
Speakers: Peter Ridgway, former deputy Director, Department of the Public Prosecutions in Fiji and Anthony Gates, Chief Justice, Fiji

SHANE MCLEOD: Relations between Australia and New Zealand and Fiji’s regime are at a new low after the Government of military ruler Frank Bainimarama last week booted out the diplomatic representatives of Canberra and Wellington.

That was precipitated by a dispute over the extent of travel bans Australia and New Zealand have imposed on the Fiji Government and officials. Those measures had prompted a rare media conference from the nation’s Australian chief justice, Anthony Gates.

ANTHONY GATES: As head of the judiciary in Fiji, I must stand up against such interference. Fiji must have a judiciary and it is not for Australia and New Zealand to tell us we cannot have one or to tell us who we are to appoint.

SHANE MCLEOD: Chief Justice Gates was upset at moves by Australia to make it clear to seven Sri Lankan judges they wouldn’t be allowed to travel through Australia once they’d taken up their posts in the Fijian judiciary.

ANTHONY GATES: Each one of the judicial officers was telephoned by a visa officer from the Australian High Commission counselling them against taking up the appointments in Fiji. They were each warned that if they took up the appointments, they would not be allowed to travel to Australia during their time in Fiji and that they would not be allowed into Australia for medical treatment for themselves or their families either.

SHANE MCLEOD: In response, Australia accused the chief justice of misrepresenting its approach to the visas for the Sri Lankan judges. By Wednesday, Frank Bainimarama had moved to expel the high commissioners.

Now there’s more detail of the role that the chief justice played in that response from the Fijian Government. The Australian newspaper has published a memorandum sent by Justice Gates to Frank Bainimarama two days after his original media conference.

In it, he describes the Australian response to the question of visas for the judges as ‘damage control’. He
refers to an audio recording of a phone call from the high commission to one of the judges, in which the chief justice says, the officer says the judge’s visa has been denied.

A copy of that recording has been made available to Fiji’s media but it does not appear to include confirmation a visa was not issued.

EXTRACT FROM TELEPHONE RECORDING: Individuals appointed to the Fiji judiciary, regardless of citizenship, became subject to these travel sanctions and that will obviously include yourself and individuals affected by travel sanctions are not allowed to travel to or through Australia although the travel sanctions policy is applied flexibly.

SHANE MCLEOD: The memo from Chief Justice Gates concludes with him pressing for action from Commodore Bainimarama.

EXTRACT FROM MEMO FROM ANTHONY GATES: I have already said the judiciary cannot expect help from any quarter, that is the nature of our independent role. However, from a political point of view, can the executive allow such interference to continue?

SHANE MCLEOD: And the next day, the Fijian Government moved to expel the Australian and New Zealand high commissioners.

Australia’s Foreign Affairs Department has no comment to make on the memorandum, but it has highlighted its response to the original claims by the chief justice, in which it described him as having misrepresented Australia’s handling of the visas. The World Today contacted the chief justice’s office in Suva seeking a response, but was told he would not be available.

The central role that he’s playing in the dispute has come as a surprise to those who’ve known the approach he’s taken to his legal career over a number of years. Peter Ridgway served as deputy director in Fiji’s Department of Public Prosecutions. He playing a key role in dealing with the perpetrators of the 2000 coup led by George Speight.

PETER RIDGWAY: His role in recent events particularly in the post-Bainimarama coup and things that have followed, it is very difficult to reconcile with the highly principled staunch defender of the judiciary and the constitution that I worked with in 2001-2005 period. So I find it very hard to recognise the same individual.

Fiji’s Native Land Trust Board may need overhaul : Biman Prasad

The IMF and the World Bank are both in Fiji to look at requests for assistance from the interim regime over its plans for land reform.

The interim Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, has said land reform is needed to save the sugar industry and open up more opportunities for tourism and agriculture.

Professor Biman Prasad, Dean of the Faculty Economics at the University of the South Pacific, suggests a state role to ensure land is used productively and owners get fair return.

He says the Native Land Trust Board, which operates on behalf of indigenous landowners, might need to review how it operates

“The NLTB could have been much more efficient and pro-active organisation and there are views that in some ways it hasn’t been in the past and I think the new economic imperatives and the changing populaton structure and the movement of the people from the rural to the urban areas is going to demand new ways of doing things.”

Professor Prasad says he would like to see leasing legislaton discussed so that leases for agriculture purposes are increased from the current 30 year maximum.

News Content © Radio New Zealand International
PO Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand

Tell the truth coup apologist Isoa Kaloumaira

The PNG subsidiary of Fiji TV, Media Niugini Ltd (MNL) seems to have saved the day for Fiji TV Ltd.

While Fiji TV made a loss of $1.362mil, Compac lost $565,000. MNL made a after tax profit of $2.832mil.

The losses in Fiji TV were blamed on the increasing cost of satellite delivery, with declining advertising revenue and downturn in the building industry.Both are very good indicators of economic downturn. Slump in the building industry, directly reduces a countries imports = a “Healthy Level Of Foreign Reserves”.

Compacs performance was the worst in a number of years according to Boso Levu Kaloumaira. Again, Compac is a business that IMPORTS and sells communication equipment, indication of “Ailing Economy=less Import=Healthy Foreign Reserves”!
Boso Levu Kaloumaira says “the global economic crisis has had a huge adverse impact………”. Ironically in the same breath he has stated ” PNG subsidiary reflected the continuing growth despite the effects of the global financial crisis”….and I dare say ..Duh..so what is the difference? Could it be the political environment?

qasex

Fiji bloggers can access Raw Fiji News on http://unblockandsurf.com

Reminder to all that Raw Fiji News is still accessible for those logging in from Fiji through http://unblockandsurf.com

The site will prompt you to enter the URL (blogsite adress) which is http://rawfijinews.wordpress.com

We understand bloggers in Fiji are using their own network to pass the word around!

Nazhat Shameem a sham!

Bingo! Was it not mentioned a couple of weeks ago now for someone to checkout what contract work or consultancy work she was doing within her private practice, as it was mentioned that even though she made out that she turned down the CJ position within the military regime, she is equally now in a position that is equal or worse than working within the regime.
She has contract legal work for her consultancy firm from the Regime. Check out what she is paid for this work! I bet you she is milking the cow real good plus taking the cream as well! And I bet you that that money is being paid overseas in overseas currency as the Fiji dollar is devalueing exponentially – join the Zimbabwe club! It was mentioned previously that she still has no professional ethics even though she has her own private practice! She is working indirectly for the Regime! That is just as bad as taking up the CJ position as she is advising the current CJ etc ….she has tasted having to be the Lord of the Fiji Legal system; would she want to leave Fiji shores? I doubt it very much! She would not have a job as such outside of Fiji! She would be plain Jane outside of Fiji!

Nazhat, you now no longer have the academic or professional respect that you displayed prior. You are now the Regime’s legal master minder! Like it or lump it, you are a disgrace to your profession, self and Fiji as a whole!

Greed, cunningness, self-centredness and lack of professional ethics and moral has overtaken you!

You (Nazhat) are to go down in the Fiji History books as the Illegal Legal Advisor of the Regime of Fiji together with Aiyaz Khaiyum, Anthony Gates (the king of Gayism of Fiji, who hates indigenous Fijians as he uttered that on a lift during working hours!) and Colonel Aziz Mohammed and all other Regime brainwashed lawyers! In fact, may it be well known that these people are really the ones holding the remote control to Frank’s brain – Aiyaz, Aziz, the Shameems and Sahu Khans!
All others like the Mara(s), Nailatikau(s), Ganilau(s) etc are really there as opportunitists to gather what they cannot earn legally – name, fame & game – elsewhere!

We legalize illegalism! It happens only in Fiji!

newbloodfor fiji

Riyaz Khaiyum to open a 24/7 junta propaganda Fijian TV station

We can confirm that Aiyaz Kahiyum’s brother in crime, Riyaz Khaiyum, is set to launch a Fijian TV station meant solely to pump out Frank and Co’s propaganda to the indigenous Fijian community.

Riyaz, who is CEO of the government-owned radio stations, is venturing into free-to-air television to help Frank brainwash the native Fijians into accepting his dictatorial rulership.

Another coup supporter journalist and floater, Stanley Simpson, once a presenter for Mai TV, has dumped the newly established TV station to join Riyaz after he was offered a $60,000 salary by Khaiyum.

Sources say the new TV station is expected to commence early next year.

Nazhat Shameem a consultant to Anthony Gates and Aiyaz Khaiyum

Insiders say that Nazhat Shameem,ex- Fiji High Court judge whose name is linked to the shadowy figures behind the 2006 coup, gained some respect when she refused to return to the judiciary after the purported abrogation of Fiji’s 1997 Constitution during Easter weekend this year.

She was later reported to have opened a Nazhat Shameem Consultancy firm.

Her new consultancy business is now reported to be very much in the thick of judicial things in Fiji with her presence in Anthony Gates chambers becoming a daily matter.

Informants from within confirm that she is acting as an advicer to Anthony Gates and Aiyaz Khaiyum and is very instrumental in the recent expulsion of the Australian and NZ envoys.

They say she is also doing training for lawyers and some members of the judiciary – a voluntary service that was once given by Fiji’s Legal Commission.

Intelligentsiya.blogspot.com  posted a similar story in November 6th:

Well, well, well. Despite Nazhat Shameem’s noble refusal to return to the High Court bench after the constitution was abrogated (and we all know how thick she and Injustice Gates continues to be), it was not surprising at all to learn that she remains tight with the military regime.

She now finds herself as a “trainer” helping the illegal DPP John Rabuku, the illegal Director for Women the Dentist Dr Tokasa Leweni (Leweni’s wife) and for goodness sakes even the Soqosoqo Vakamarama to DISSECT Decree 9 on Domestic Violence. There is somewhat a bald hypocrisy in this facade.

Dave Aidney of Transparency International continues to bring shame on TI by whining about their inability to travel to Australia and New Zealand. Unless he is dyslexic the rules are quite clear — support the regime, don’t even think about requesting a visa to go to Australia or NZ. This is quite an odd sort of comment to be emanating from TI unless of course Aidney is confusing his TI role with his commercial interests. Furthermore it is a COMPLETE backflip to previous concerns about the deportation of media personnel.

And the cherry on top is that yesterday Rt Epeli Nailatikau was illegally appointed the first Tongan President of Fiji.

- http://intellignetsiya.blogspot.com

 

No escape from arm of international law for Frank and his supporters

The maniacal dictator is planning to travel to Rome and Brussels. Perhaps it is time the victims in Fiji and their supporters abroad aproached the International Criminal Court prosecutor with evidence of brutality, beatings, and murders committed by the illegal regime in Fiji and get Frank arrested, followed by others like Adolf Saddam Khaiyum and other thugs.

The following story below should be a stark warning to Frank and the gang, and inspiration of hope to the coup victims in Fiji:

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor has said that he has a “strong case” against a number of people for crimes committed during post-election violence in Kenya in 2007.

Luis Moreno Ocampo announced in the capital, Nairobi, on Saturday that he planned to present two to three cases for trial possibly by July next year.

“Everyone is worried about the next election in Kenya in 2012. That is why I understand the importance of speed,” he said.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ocampo said: “I’ll go to the communities. I’ll see the victims, listen to them. I have to collect the evidence.

“Then I’ll present my case. Then the names will be known. In the meantime, my duty is to make criminal records ready – who gave orders to kill. That’s it.”

Ethnic clashes broke after the opposition disputed the re-election of Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent president.

At least 1,300 people were killed and more than 300,000 displaced by the violence.

List of suspects

Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, who acted as mediator following the crisis, cautioned that there was a serious risk that the violence would be repeated if the people responsible for the killings were not brought to justice.

In July, he gave Ocampo a list of suspects identified in a report by a Kenyan judge. Political sources say it includes cabinet ministers, parliamentarians and businessmen.

“My mandate is to end impunity; to prevent future crimes”

Luis Moreno Ocampo,
ICC prosecutor
“My mandate is to end impunity; to prevent future crimes,” Ocampo said.

Asked whether his investigation would not be a destabilising factor in the run-up to the next election, Ocampo said: “I’m aware of the need to have a peaceful election in Kenya and so I think that 2010 is the time to identify the evidence, identify suspects, the judges decide on them and [then we'll] be ready to hold the trail.”

He met Kibaki and Raila Odinga, the Kenyan prime minister, on Thursday and told them he would request the go-ahead for an investigation in December from the ICC’s pre-trial judges.

Ocampo said he had taken the decision to proceed unilaterally because the Kenyan leaders, who now serve in a power-sharing government together, had decided against referring the case to the court in The Hague.

Expulsion of diplomats not good for economy,says economist

A leading Fiji economist says the expulsion of top diplomats from Australia and New Zealand will not be good for the country’s economy.

Fiji’s interim Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama says “all is well” between Fiji and its Trans-Tasman neighbours at a business level.

And business leaders are denying the expulsions will have a negative impact.

But Professor Wadan Narsey from the University of the South Pacific says the diplomatic row will affect the business community which he claims is reluctant to criticise the interim regime’s actions.

“Like it or lump it Australia and New Zealand are our two biggest neighbours. They are our two biggest trading partners and they also have a lot of investment in Fiji so expelling their high commissioners is not good for the Fiji economy, it’s not going to improve investor confidence, and the current indications are that this year we are going to have possibly one to two percent decline again in the GDP.”

Professor Narsey says the private sector will not say anything negative because of the favours it can get from the interim government.

He says Tourism Fiji is expecting in the next budget, a very large increase in its advertising grant.

News Content © Radio New Zealand International
PO Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand

Australia is right to keep the pressure on Fiji

 

FIJI has been a flashpoint in Pacific regional affairs for many years. With what amounts to five coups since 1987, there is every reason to believe that what now represents democracy in the island nation is no longer a sham, but non-existent. How could it be otherwise – especially following last April’s so-called ”new legal order”, which included the repealing of the constitution, sacking of the judiciary and the reinstatement of Commodore Frank Bainimarama’s military regime for at least five election-free years?

 

Last week, the Fiji Government expelled New Zealand and Australia’s high commissioners after accusations that both countries were sabotaging Fiji’s progress by denying visas to Sri Lankan judges. On Thursday, in retaliation, the Australian Government expelled Fiji’s acting high commissioner. This situation goes far beyond diplomatic tit-for-tat to be a potential threat to regional stability. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is current chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum, has defended Australia’s hardline approach to Fiji by saying, ”We do not want this coup culture to spread elsewhere in the Pacific.” The argument, however, is not so much to do with containment as persuading one rogue nation to return itself to proper democratic accountability.

 

The United States has supported Australia and New Zealand, calling for Fiji to restore an independent judiciary and fundamental rights. This can only be good for strengthening regional resolve; that it might persuade Fiji to return to a more democratic way of life is far less certain. Mr Rudd is right to keep the pressure on. Perhaps his next move – in his Pacific Forum capacity – would be to shift the forum’s secretariat from Suva to a more acceptable location.

 - Sydney Morning Herald

7 point 1 quake recorded in Fiji region

A 7-point-1 earthquake was recorded in the Fiji region last night.

The Fiji Times says the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued two Tsunami Bulletins, advising that “based on the depth of the earthquake” a tsunami was not generated.

The Centre said the quake, at 10.45 last night, was at a depth of 565 kilometers.

That location is virtually in the centre of waters between Fiji’s two most populated islands – Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.

The closest towns to the quake zone were Tavua and Rakiraki.

There have been no reports of damage at this stage.

News Content © Radio New Zealand International
PO Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand

Fiji bloggers can access Raw Fiji News on http://unblockandsurf.com

Thanks for that RFN. Just tried it and it seems to work – at least for now.

But this latest attempt at stifling the truth should make it clear to anybody who cares to look that Frank and his goons have not the remotest intention of handing back power to anybody. Just read the charter. It’s all there. His vision for Fiji is as a puppet parliament that can be overruled by the military – i.e. Frank – at any time. And heaven help the “MPs” who step out of line.

Now he controls the military and the military controls everything – the civil service, the judiciary, the media – even the stock exchange and FHL. Now he has a puppet board at the FNFP and will steal the people’s retirement savings in his desperation to keep on paying the soldiers and a few self interested cops. Wasn’t it Machiavelli who said there are no unpaid loyal people?

But even the FNPF money will run out – and sooner than he thinks.

It’s time to start planning Fiji’s recovery from this nightmare ordeal.

Calls for the whole of the People’s Charter committee (or whatever it called itself) to be tried for treason are unrealistic. We all know who they are anyway.

But Frank and his coup buddies and collaborators must face the full force of the law – Frank himself of course plus Driti, Qiliho, Uluilakemba,Teleni, Aziz, Leweni Sayed-Khaiyum and even the lesser military lights – the whole military council – must face the law if Fiji is to end the coup culture.

Then there are the hangers on and place seekers – Gates, Shaista, Sami, Prasad, Reddy, Narayan and all the rest – including the murderers now walking free.
They must – sooner or later – be brought before a legitimate court of law and made to answer for their actions.

That day is not as far off as many might think. Frank’s theft of the FNPF funds may be the trigger. Who knows? Certainly not Frank and his thugs.

What happened to the scholar soldiers – those who have studied history and its lessons? Frank has no advice from educated soldiers since he kicked them all out.
He’ll regret that.

His coup will ultimately be the end of the RFMF – which will be no bad thing since it has done nothing but harm to Fiji. Fiji does not need an army and never did. It was expanded after independence from a few hundred largely ceremonial boys in red jackets with a pretty damn good band (before Leweni) for the sole purpose of inflating the egos of a few ratus who had lost sight of the sacred trust of their people.

Frank’s coup will succeed in only one aspect – the decline of the chiefly system.

Ratu Sukuna died penniless as chiefs should. How about this lot?

kaicolo56