By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – Government censorship of the media in Fiji will continue, says Permanent Secretary for Information, Lieutenant Colonel Neumi Leweni.

Mr. Leweni says the regulations will remain in place until journalists learn to follow directives from the Ministry of Information. According to regulations, journalists must first submit any reports on the government to the Ministry of Information for review.

Fiji’s interim government installed these regulations on April 10th, following the subrogation of the Constitution and the dismissal of all judicial members. Mr. Leweni says news outlets cannot expect to return to their old style of reporting prior to April 10th.

Mr. Leweni also says that the regulations have yielded “good” results, and if he were in charge, he would extend that censorship for another five years.

But such regulations have already caused one Fiji based news outlet to temporarily relocate. PACNEWS, operated by two local journalists, Makereta Komai and Pita Ligaiula, says deciding to leave Fiji was not easy.

“We would want to be in Fiji as it is in the center of the Pacific but our work as an independent news agency is becoming increasingly more difficult,” said Joseph Ealadona, the board chair of the Pacific Islands News Association news service.

He blames the media for these regulations, saying that harsher control would not be necessary if the media was not always so critical of the government. Mr Leweni claims that journalists have been irresponsible and “sensationalized” government actions.

The interim government has officially extended the regulations 30 days after May 10th.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – Censorship of Fiji media could continue indefinitely, says regime – 13 May 2009

Fiji Times Online – Pacific news service to leave Fiji – 13 May 2009