8 Aug 2007

Fiji unionist to lay complaint with police for abuse at hands of military

7:48 pm on 8 August 2007

A Fiji trade union leader says he is about to lay a complaint with the police commissioner over death threats issued by the military.

Taniela Tabu, the leader of the Viti National Union of Taukei Workers, was held in the Suva military barracks for nine hours last week ahead of a strike by public sector unions.

He says he was forced to strip to his underwear, abused, and told if he or union colleagues were summoned by the military again they would not leave the barracks alive.

Mr Tabu says now the unions have ended six days of strike action he has time to call on the police to act over the threats.

"I have to lodge that sometime this week. Because I have just gone through this crisis [the strike] and we felt it was just slowly being resolved, so then I will have time to deal with my complaint."

The military has denied that Mr Tabu was threatened in any way.