Fiji's interim government has broken its silence over the burning of constitution drafts nearly three weeks ago.
The incident became known after the Constitution Commission chair, Yash Ghai, described how he tried to intervene when police seized the printed draft copies.
The permanent secretary for information, Sharon Smith-Johns, has told the website Fijilive that the only things that were burnt were some shredded printer's proofs of the draft document.
Ms Smith-Johns says the police destroyed the shredded papers for security reasons, but she didn't elaborate what danger the shredded papers posed.
She also disclosed that the police intervened on instruction of the government, saying the action was to preserve the integrity of the constitutional process.
The regime and Professor Ghai disagree over whether the printing of the documents were covered by the regime decrees.
The interim government has made no comment about the proposed measures to pave the way for elections promised for next year.
Political parties apologised to Professor Ghai for the personal abuse and degrading treatment he has suffered.
