15 Sep 2014

Tough penalties if Fiji ban broken

8:06 pm on 15 September 2014

There is now a black out in force in Fiji on all political activity in the run up to elections on Wednesday.

No signs or banners are allowed and the media can only cover the process of the election itself.

The Supervisor of Elections, Mohammed Saneem says people in Fiji using social media need to respect the blackout as well.

"If they tweet something or do campaigning on Facebook, or publish electoral matters on Facebook - post the blackout period it will be up to the authorities how they will treat the matter."

Any individual in Fiji who is convicted of breaching the black out provisions of the electoral decree could face a fine of up to 50 thousand Fiji dollars or a jail term of up to 10 years.

Crowd of polling workers at elections office after pages of names of people needed to work published in morning paper

Crowds of polling workers gather at the Fiji elections office Photo: RNZI

Media owners or publishers who breach the rules could face up to five years in jail.