Concerns for rule of law in Fiji after police chief exit

Transcript

There are concerns for the rule of law in Fiji, as the police commissioner says he resigned partly due to military interference. 

Ben Groenewald stood down this week, and the land force commander of the military has been appointed as Acting Police Commissioner. 

The news comes days after the military hired three policemen charged with assault in relation to a brutality video.

Alex Perrottet has more.

Ben Groenewald was appointed in May last year, and is a former major general of the South African police force.  He made it clear to the ABC this week he was stepping down due to interference from the military.

BEN GROENEWALD:  The fact is that I do not agree with the way that they are interfering with policing. I am a true-blooded police officer and I'm not satisfied with the way that they interfere in policing.

The chair of the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police, Tony Edwards, says Ben Groenewald is a true professional and is sad to see him go.  He says he was grateful to the work he did to get the Fiji police back into the regional police chief grouping.

TONY EDWARDS:  Just to have Fiji back in and not just Fiji but Ben himself, to be back into the fold you know he was an awesome participant at the conference and we felt you know that Fiji was going forward with his leadership there and there was nothing else we expected from him but you know it is sad that he's resigned from his position.

Mr Groenewald had just returned from Costa Rica, where he spoke about police brutality, fresh from a decision by Fiji's DPP to lay charges against three policemen and two soldiers accused of a brutal torture of prison escapees.  But it was what happened while he was away that had many concerned about military might in Fiji.  One suspect, an army warrant officer, Pita Matairavula, who is also a former bodyguard to Frank Bainimarama, was reportedly shielded by the military, whose guards did not let police in to question him.  And the three charged police officers who Mr Groenewald had stood down were promptly given jobs in the military.  The commander of the military, Colonel Sitiveni Qiliho, justified the move as follows.

SITIVENI QILIHO:  They haven't been convicted yet but unfortunately, the police force has abandoned them. They were working for the Fiji police force, and they were working with military officers. Now, we will stand by our men and women through thick and thin, we are not going to abandon them.

An Auckland law professor, Bill Hodge, says such actions should prompt serious concerns for the rule of law.

BILL HODGE:  It sounds like they're carving out a region and a doctrine of immunity, or being above and not subject ot outside the ordinary legal system which is anathema to the rule of law as we understand it.

Winston Peters, who was foreign minister of New Zealand at the time of the 2006 coup, says the actions are proof that some Fiji institutions are above the law, and Australia and New Zealand should again be reviewing their stance on Fiji.

WINSTON PETERS:  Australian and New Zealand foreign affairs departments are going to ask themselves seriously now, 'did we make a premature stand in support of Fiji, given this emerging evidence?' Frankly this is to do with the rule of law it is to do with the separation of powers, it is to do with the quality of democracy and also it is to do with a leading member of the Pacific community. That's the great disappointment here.

Tony Edwards says the resignation sets Fiji back a great deal, but the Pacific police chiefs are ready to work with his successor.  But for now, that's the land force commander, Colonel Sitiveni Qiliho.