It’s not getting any better in Fiji .. silence reigns and now we learn from the Sydney Morning Herald that..
Fiji’s military junta has started destroying court documents and rewriting the country’s law books amid fresh calls from the United Nations for a return to democracy….
The report goes on to say
The UN Security Council is the latest international organisation to condemn the military regime’s new power grab and abrogation of Fiji’s constitution.
The country’s self-appointed prime minister Frank Bainimarama, who has ruled since a December 2006 coup, has also censored the media and delayed elections for five years to strengthen his grip on power…../……..
But as the council’s tough line was announced, blog websites reported the newly-appointed chief registrar, Major Ana Rokomokoti, has begun destroying court documents related to the coup.
The website Intelligentsiya, which is carrying news anonymously amid censorship, described the registrar "shredding away justice from our courts".
Fiji Law Society president Dorsami Naidu said the actions were a vain attempt to protect an illegal government.
"I have heard they have shredded all paperwork and files on actions pending against the military regime," said Naidu, who has been detained and questioned for opposing the regime.
Full report at http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/fiji-regime-shreds-antigovt-documents-20090421-adfq.html
And …….while they are busy tearing up the constitution and court documents it is also time to install a new judiciary… The Australian has that story
THE first signs of a split within Fiji’s legal profession emerged yesterday when sacked chief magistrate Ajmal Gulab Khan accepted a new commission from the regime that tore up his country’s constitution.
Chief magistrate Khan and eight other magistrates were sworn in yesterday by President Josefa Iloilo, 10 days after he sacked all judicial officers and seized power.
The fate of Fiji Chief Justice Anthony Gates and other superior court judges is still unknown, but Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum issued a statement saying no judges were being detained.
All but two of the magistrates who swore yesterday to uphold a justice decree issued by the military regime had previously held office under Fiji’s 1997 constitution.
The appointments were "a surprise and disappointment" to Fiji Law Society president Dorsami Naidu, who said he adhered to his view that the President’s actions 10 days ago had been unlawful.
"I had not expected them to come back in under the circumstances," Mr Naidu said.
The magistrates took office under an "administration of justice decree" that re-establishes Fiji’s three superior courts and gives Mr Iloilo the right to make all initial appointments to the magistracy and the superior courts.
While the regime run by Frank Bainimarama has not yet appointed any superior court judges, Mr Naidu said "any appointment under the new decree is wrong".
"These people are going to take an oath on a decree flowing from an unlawful act," he said.
However, the law society has sought permission from the military regime to hold a general meeting to decide whether Fiji’s lawyers should appear in the reconstituted courts.
"I do not wish to appear before them. But we have to assess our members’ views," said Mr Naidu, who was held in police cells and interrogated last week. He had earlier written to all sacked judicial officers advising them the dismissals had been invalid.
The justice decree has also stripped the law society of its previous involvement in the selection of judges.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25362750-17044,00.html
Finally the Straits Times in Singapore reports….
FIJI’S former solicitor general, fired in a political upheaval two weeks ago, accepted reappointment on Tuesday, saying the country needs qualified lawyers to help restore the rule of law.
Christopher Pryde rejected calls by the New Zealand and Fiji law societies for lawyers to refuse appointments to posts in the military-led regime.
‘It is vitally important at this time in Fiji’s history that people assist the country in getting back on its feet and to a restoration of the rule of law,’ said Mr Pryde, a former New Zealand lawyer.
His reappointment as Fiji’s second highest ranked lawyer, after the attorney general, came hours after the UN Security Council demanded the restoration of democracy and fair elections in the volatile South Pacific nation.
