17 Dec 2015

Fiji speaker stance disputed

1:49 pm on 17 December 2015

There are contradictory reports from Fiji on whether a parliamentary committee meeting this week had the approval of the speaker, Jiko Luveni.

A committee member, Ratu Isoa Tikoca, says the speaker had given authority for the committee to deliberate on allegations about human rights abuses raised by a lawyer Aman Ravindra-Singh.

However the Fiji Sun reports that she did not give the go-ahead.

Fiji's Speaker of Parliament, Dr Jiko Luveni

Fiji's Speaker, Dr Jiko Luveni Photo: Fiji Department of Information

The meeting was stopped at the instigation of the attorney-general, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, who says a complaint about violence must be reported to the police before it is referred to any other institution.

Mr Ravindra-Singh has asked where it says that the committee has to await a complaint to the police.

Ratu Isoa says reporting the matter to the police will stop the committee probing the allegations, adding his concern are that investigations can then last a hundred years.

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