Fiji police are investigating allegations of brutality by prison guards.
Police said two inmates at the Natabua Corrections Centre in Lautoka claimed prison officers assaulted them and took pictures of them while they were naked.
Natabua Corrections Centre Photo: Fiji Govt
Police spokeswoman, Ana Naisoro, said complaints were received from prisoners Tomasi Cama and Sunny Ritesh Nand.
The pair lodged the complaints after the High Court in Lautoka allowed them to seek constitutional redress for the claims.
Cama appeared before Justice Chamath Morais on Thursday and made a submission for constitutional redress.
Cama claimed images of him were taken while being strip-searched by the prison guards.
He also alleged that after arriving from the Naboro correctional facility last Sunday, he was strip-searched and photographed while naked.
Justice Morais asked one of the escorting officers from the Corrections Services if this was a normal practice.
The officer said a strip search was normally conducted on inmates for their report and strip searches were part of their snap-check processes within the prison.
But the officer did not confirm if taking pictures of a naked prisoner was also part of the process.
As a result, Justice Morais accepted Cama's submission and allowed the inmates to file a police complaint.
Meanwhile, Nand's lawyer Kelly Vulimainadave told the court her client was segregated at the prison after telling the court of the alleged abuse by guards.
Vulimainadave said Nand was threatened and assaulted by a group of officers on Wednesday night and told not to make any more complaints.
