The Fiji police and their commissioner Rusiate Tudravu did not respond to questions sent by OCCRP.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Fiji Police have come under fire for seizing a phone belonging to an investigative journalist after she made a social media post about alleged corruption within the force.
Meri Radinibaravi, an investigative reporting fellow with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), said the police called her on Wednesday afternoon and informed her they needed to question her regarding her Facebook post, which she had deleted shortly after posting.
According to OCCRP, her post referenced allegations of corruption during the tenure of former police chief Sitiveni Qiliho, who was convicted and jailed for interfering in a criminal investigation.
It said Radinibaravi voluntarily went to the Criminal Investigations Department in Suva, where she had to type out a formal statement and “felt forced to surrender her device”.
“She said she believed the pressure from police may have been connected to her ongoing reporting on sensitive corruption allegations within the department,” OCCRP said.
The Fiji police and their commissioner Rusiate Tudravu did not respond to questions sent by OCCRP.
OCCRP said the incident has occurred during a tense period for Fiji, as Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is weighing whether to declare a national state of emergency in response to a surge in drug trafficking and organised crime.
Fiji is currently under a high-intensity joint police and military operation to dismantle criminal networks and the illegal drug trade.
OCCRP editor-in-chief Miranda Patrucic said the move by the Fiji police “is an unacceptable attack on press freedom and independent media in Fiji”.
“It is designed to harass the journalist and is a brazen attempt to target her sources,” she said in a statement.
Patrucic said OCCRP is demanding the immediate return of Radinibaravi’s equipment and a guarantee that no data has been accessed or compromised.
