The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Don McKinnon, and UN representative, Sergio
Viera de Mello, have asked for the unconditional release of all prisoners being
held in Fiji's parliamentary compound. Their request has been denied by coup
leader Goerge Speight. The international envoys have met with Fiji's Great Council
of Chiefs in a bid to end Fiji's constitutional crisis. Mr McKinnon says he
has seen Fiji's deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry for a short time and
says he appears well. But Mr Chaudrhy's personal doctor, Dr Bhagat Ram, says
he is injured and in a lot of pain. "He's not in a coma, and the broken
ribs, we can only analyse with X rays, and we cannot do that in Parliament house,"
he said.
"He did recieve some injuries in the chest, in the left side. if he's not
released as soon as possible, he will live with pain."
Meanwhile, a New South Wales Labor MP says the Federal Government should freeze
financial aid to Fiji if democracy is not urgently restored. Paul Lynch, a western
Sydney MP, has moved an urgent motion in the Parliament calling for the return
of democracy in Fiji. He says Canberra should make it clear that the overthrow
of democracy will result in Fiji's expulsion from the Commonwealth, and result
in international isolation. Australian aid to Fiji for the next financial year
amounts to $22 million.
© 2000 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, May 24, 2000
This text may have been edited to protect the writer.
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