9 Jan 2012

PER-lift political act say Fiji's methodists

2:38 pm on 9 January 2012

The deputy general secretary of Fiji's Methodist Church says the absence of the Public Emergency Regulations makes little difference to church operations.

The regulations, which were imposed after the appeal court ruled in 2009 that the interim administration was illegal, gave police and the military extensive powers and required all meetings to have a permit.

Prior to their lifting on Saturday, the interim attorney general said under the recently-modernised Public Order Act permits for meetings on private premises would no longer be required.

The Reverend Tevita Nawadra Banivanua says the church had welcomed that announcement but the police told him this morning that the church will still need permits for all meetings.

"We were very very happy to hear the lifting and the attorney general's word. And I was just saying what was the truth of all of this lifting because they've just lifted something out of the Public Emergency Regulations, the PER and put it into a new order."

The deputy general secretary of Fiji's Methodist Church, Reverend Tevita Nawadra Banivanua.