12 Jan 2010

Fiji deports Fiji-born Australian environmental consultant Lal

5:06 pm on 12 January 2010

Fiji has deported an Australian consultant of the Suva office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Dr Padma Lal, who was born in Fiji, was forced to leave Fiji a day after she returned from Australia.

The Fiji Times reports that Dr Padma Lal, who has a visa to work in Fiji, was stopped at Nadi International Airport where her mobile phone and computer were taken.

She is the wife of Australia National University academic Dr Brij Lal, who last November was forced to leave Fiji.

Amnesty International says he was told he would be killed if he returned to Fiji.