FIJI One Television journalist Imraz Iqbal was yesterday roughed up by
prison wardens while taking footages of injured prisoners arriving at the
Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva.
Mr Iqbal was part of a media crew who were there to cover the arrival of 21
prisoners from the maximum security prison in Naboro who were wounded when
riot police stormed the premises yesterday.
An angry Mr Iqbal demanded that wardens apologise or he will press charges.
The footages of the incident was aired on TV One's news bulletins last
night.
GOVERNMENT has not been officially notified of plans tobury Kulinio Tabua
within the parliamentary complex. The burial is scheduled for this
afternoon.
Interim Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, RatuJosua Toganivalu, as
of yesterday, was not informed aboutthe matter adding that such an act
should go through set formalities since the subjected land is under the
ownership ofthe state.
Ratu Josua said the relatives of the late Tabua should haveapproached the
District Officer Suva who will go through theBurial and Cremation Act before
arriving at a decision.
The Act is used when there is a request for a burial outsidedeclared
licensed burial grounds.
Mr Tabua, 26, from Nakorolevu, Namara in Tailevu was shot by soldiers
outside parliament on July 4 and died at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital
a week later.
Interim Minister of Health Pita Nacuva said the procedure of removing bodies
from the hospital's morgue was straight forward. He said relatives of the deceased
have to produce the death certificate to hospital authorities before they
can take the corpse for burial. Speaking from parliament, George Speight's
presss ecretary Jo Nata said Mr Tabua will be buried this afternoon.
He said scores of people have presented their ireguregu yesterday and more
are expected today.
Mr Nata said the burial ceremony has been rescheduled to the afternoon since
the Tui Vuda,Ratu Josefa Iloilo and the Taukei Naua, Ratu Jope Seniloli will
be sworn in as the president and vice president respectively in the morning.
A prominent Suva lawyer said if the proposed burial takes place ,it would be
a fundamental breach of all sense of the law. He however questioned what law
is now
governing Fiji.
The lawyer said any activity within parliament should be approved by both
the Upper and Lower houses but said these Houses do not exist today. He said
Fiji has to
answer several important questions.
The first is that of which law or set of laws are now in force in Fiji.
According to him it should be asked as to what right those in parliament
have to go ahead with the burial.
He added the Great Council of Chiefs would become a mockery if it gave in to
pressure from the group in parliament.
He said the GCC should now show if it holds authority because under the
circumstance it holds dual authority with the Fiji Military Forces.
But since traditional Fijian protocol has been followed in settling
differences since the signing of the Muanikau Accord, he believed that it is
the way the GCC should go in persuading those in parliament to hold the
burial ceremony in designated cemeteries.
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