The Fijian coup - Freedom of the press in Fiji Now!

The Fijian coup - from another angle - the freedom of the Press. A clayton's freedom, when you don't have any!

Since the Fijian coup many in the local media fear getting an invitation for a chat with the stroppy arrogant military down at the Queen Elizabeth barracks. There are no RSVP's, the invitees have no choice but to attend - promptly!

Since Commodore Bainimarama's illegal seizure of power at the point of loaded guns on December 5 2006, delayed briefly for the annual Army v Police rugby match which he attended, and overthrow of a democratically elected Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarese's government, regardless of Bainimarama's opinion, the media has struggled to retain an independent stance. Apparently on the night of the coup the News Ltd owned Fiji Times cancelled their morning edition rather than have soldiers censoring the contents.

There have been claims of intimidation, in one case a man had his ribs broken and the RFMF offered a tentative apology. His employers want to let sleeping dogs lie - letting the details remain confidential, fearing further retribution from the RFMF. When the Times ran a story which contained errors and ran an apology for it, a senior employee, not the reporter or editor, was picked up and taken back to the QE barracks.

The Royal Fiji Military Force claims he wasn't tortured, just receiving the usual treatment handed out to recruits - whatever that means?

According to the man's employers, the military broke his ribs, lacerated his chest and knees and his face was cut in several places. He was forced marched up hills, and dragged into a shower and hosed down - the incident lasted for five hours it was claimed.

Journalists now censor themselves - being beaten by soldiers is now labelled as being manhandled!

The Press in Fiji is dealing in very tense times and difficult situations, and there are times when these can get right out of control - remembering they are operating under emergency regulations which have quite severe restrictions at times. Hanging over the population is the spectre of a number of unsolved deaths since the beginning of the coup.

They have to cover both sides of the story and the military appears to support factual accounts that can be backed up as long as they are not aggressive. But unattributed stories can lead to questions being asked by the military, which can lead to those "invitations" to the Barracks.

Media integrity was critical in those circumstances to ensure that readers and listeners continued to believe them. The website Fijivillage.com was for a time one of the last free speech venues left in Fiji. After a chat with the military it was agreed the content in the forum was inappropriate. The military also warned about repeating claims that there was speculation over deep divisions in the military.

And so the coup goes on in Fiji!