Peter Wiliams QC is a highly respected NZ lawyer who has on several previous occasions defended members of he ousted Qarase government. He was in Fiji recently on Mere Samisoni's behalf.
In this interview with Radio ZB he comments on the recently passed Public Order Amendment Decree. Listen to
what he has to say.
what he has to say.
My only comments concern his description of the decree as draconian and worse than PER. If fact, the provisions he criticises were in PER so the situation may be as bad, but certainly no worse. And as a reader commented on an earlier post, many such provisions exist in other countries (and most were in Fiji's 1969 Public Oder Act). It is not what is in the decree (which caters for worst case terrorist scenarios) but how it is interpreted and applied. And for that, we have to wait and see. He mislead listeners by saying more than three church members cannot meet without a permit. The decree has no effect on church services. It is the meeting of
church administrators that requires a permit. This is no different than under PER and it came about because some Methodist church leaders (extreme nationalists who had supported the Rabuka and Speight coups) were using the church as a political instrument. Bainimarama's point is that the church should not engage in party politics.
His description of poverty and begging in Suva, as if they are a consequence of Bainimarama government actions, is also misleading. It is probable that poverty has worsened in recent years but it was extensive in the 1970s when I researched urban squatting.
His suggestion that Fiji is an unsafe destination for tourists was also a little guileless. Walking around many places at night is dangerous.I wouldn't recommend it in any downtown NZ city.
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