A top Australian criminal lawyer forced by the Fiji government to leave the country says his departure will seriously affect pending coup-related cases.
The former deputy director of public prosecutions, Peter Ridgway, who played a crucial role in winning convictions against key coup perpetrators, says there's no one in the prosecutions office who can easily take over his work.
Mr Ridgway predicts this will mean delays in cases as the prosecutions office struggles to cope.
"It's going to make it very difficult for the staff who are there to pick up the reins of all of the various horses I was riding and move along with them without seriously interruputing the process. Because I know what a grave workload they already have, I know what serious difficulty they will now face."
Mr Ridgway, who is back home in Brisbane, says his eviction from Fiji has taken a huge toll on him and his wife.
