Fears in Fiji that next police boss will be military man

Transcript

It's feared that a military man could be rubber stamped as the next police commissioner in Fiji.

Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho was appointed acting police commissioner in November for three months and he's expressed a desire to apply for the position long-term.

The body which makes key appointments in Fiji has refused to comment on its recruitment process and some believe Sitiveni Qiliho will be ushered in.

Bridget Tunnicliffe reports:

The prime minister Frank Bainimarama, who led a military coup in 2006, appointed land force commander Colonel Sitiveni Qiliho as the acting police commissioner after the sudden resignation of Ben Groenewald in November. Mr Groenewald cited military interference in policing as one reason for his departure. The Fiji opposition leader Ro Teimumu Kepa is a member of the Constitutional Offices Commission, which gives advice on key appointments. She would like to see the position given to a senior police officer who's served through the ranks.

RO TEIMUMU KEPA: The police come from a very different background so we would want that consideration to be given for the police, not for a military man to come across and take up that position, he doesn't know the culture and the nature of policing.

Ro Teimumu is no longer attending the commission because she says she has no input. The commission is made up of six members, including the chair Frank Bainimarama, the attorney-general and two members appointed by the prime minister. In November last year lawyer Richard Naidu resigned as a member following the appointment of Sitiveni Qiliho. This week a former aide to two prime ministers in Fiji says he received an abusive message from the facebook account of Sitiveni Qiliho following his highlighting of police inaction over several investigations in the country. Shailendra Raju, who lives in New Zealand, says he's looking at writing to the Constitutional Offices Commission.

SHAILENDRA RAJU: I don't think he's fit at all, the only course of action that I have is to write to the Constitutional Offices Commission and raise their attention to this incident and I think this should render Mr Qiliho unfit to be appointed as police commissioner.

The Fiji police force has so far declined to make any comment on the facebook message. Shailendra Raju says he is concerned about returning to the country.

SHAILENDRA RAJU: Obviously very very rude, unprofessional and completely unbecoming of an acting police commissioner and this threat just confirms that should I enter Fiji anything could happen. A combination of all this background you know makes a solid case that rule of law in Fiji is under serious doubt.

The Constitutional Offices Commission has declined to answer any questions pertaining to the recruitment process for the next police commissioner. Sitiveni Qiliho's three month term is due to expire on February 11th, yet there's no information about whether the job's been advertised or what the appointment process is. RNZ International has been told that the Solicitor-General Sharvada Sharma, as secretary of the Commission, is the only one who can comment but he has not returned messages. Ro Teimumu Kepa says it's an important position for which someone with high principles should be appointed.

RO TEIMUMU KEPA: To hold themselves in regard to that position where people look up to them to maintain law and order and for they themselves to hold themselves you know with some form of decorum, where we can have respect for that position.

She says the acting police commissioner's conduct leaves a lot to be desired. Since Sitiveni Qiliho's appointment, the former deputy police commissioner resigned when the interim police boss announced he was being investigated for 'a serious internal matter'. Henry Brown was in charge of the investigation into police accused of the rape of Vilikesi Soko in 2014, who died after allegedly being beaten while in police custody. Mr Qiliho reinstated two of the rape-accused and the pair were put in charge of investigating Mr Brown.