25 Apr 2009

No Fiji court documents shredded - attorney-general

9:31 am on 25 April 2009

Fiji's attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum has again defended the dismissal of his country's judiciary and denied court documents have been shredded.

He says he is keen to see Fiji's courts functioning fully again, but says the process of appointing new judges will take time.

Mr Khaiyum says talk of court documents are being shredded are "unsubstantiated rumour-mongering".

The attorney-general says the Presidential Dialogue Forum to discuss they way forward in Fiji may still go ahead, though some changes to the format may be needed.

Censors still in Fiji newsrooms

Newsrooms in Fiji are continuing to operate with daily visits from the military-led government's censors.

Emergency regulations, imposed following the abrogation of the country's constitution, are being enforced by the censors who are also encouraging what they call positive reporting.

One of the censors, Tui Marseu, says her job is to guide editors on how they might angle news stories.

"We are looking for statements that would create tension among members of the public," she says.

"We don't want that to happen, we just want to ensure that everybody is at peace, there's no tension whatsoever."

The emergency decree under which the censors are operating is due to run for another week.