These enforcers of the law are no longer in plain clothes and sometimes take on the duty of the censors, deciding what we are permitted to print.
Now we have a situation where it is the police who are the censors.
This means that no story involving the police will see the light of day if it involves corruption or officers breaking the law or even.
Advertisement
Two months ago the police took on a serial offender - a violent robber - as a special constable as part of a Christian Crusade to minister to criminal elements. This man has a number of outstanding cases - I believe there are eight - before the court.
He was to have appeared in court to answer charges relating to one of these cases but was not in court on the day - a clear case of contempt. The magistrate asked the prosecutor why the accused person was not in court.
The prosecutor blamed the Crime Officer at a police station on the outskirts of the capital, Suva.
Infuriated, the magistrate ordered that the accused policeman and the Crime Officer appear in court on Monday morning.
Sensational, great read. But nobody’s read this story because although we wrote it, the censors would not allow publication.
On Monday the court sat and the magistrate called the case. The Crime Officer was there but the accused special constable was nowhere to be seen.
Advertisement
Even more sensational, an even greater read. This story remains unknown to the people of Fiji as does the whereabouts of the accused cop to the court.
This incident illustrates the impunity of the courts to prosecute people who are protected by the regime.
And this is not happening in some African nation. It’s happening four hours from here in your backyard. It’s happening in a nation which you and your friends or relatives visit for its friendly people and sandy beaches.
This article is based on an address given by the author to the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Queensland, Brisbane on Wednesday, August 26, 2009.
Discuss in our Forums
See what other readers are saying about this article!
Click here to read & post comments.
8 posts so far.