The military regime in Fiji has again extended Public Emergency Regulations that prevent meetings of organizations such as the Fiji Law Society. The emergency regulations have been in place now for 19 months. They restrict various forms of public assembly and what information can be published or broadcast in the media, including blogs.
Persons detained and questioned under the Emergency Regulations include former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry. He and five other men were charged with “unlawful assembly” and kept in custody for more than three days after allegedly meeting with sugar farmers in Rakiraki in Ra Province.
Fiji’s interim Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, seized power in 2006 in Fiji’s fourth military coup.
Hat tip to the East-West Center and Radio New Zealand.
(mew)