Transcript
RICARDO FISHER: I went to court and nothing was on file so I went to the court registry to check and they said that the actual charges had not been filed so the police hadn't brought the charges to the actual court, for the court date that I was supposed to appear on, on the 24th.
SALLY ROUND: Have you followed up with the police since?
RF: No I haven't. I thought it was up to them to follow up on the charges, but I'm guessing that they just wanted to avoid the whole situation because of the incident with them beating me during that night.
SR: You yourself filed a complaint with the police saying that you had been beaten at that time when you were charged with those offences. What has happened with that complaint?
RF: Nothing so far. I haven't received any information on the follow-up of my complaint. I have six fractures on my ribs and been out, I've been bedridden for maybe two weeks and haven't been able to move about properly for a month after the beating and nothing's been followed up on it.
SR: So you've had no visits from the police, no calls at all?
RF: Nothing whatsoever.
SR: What about the injuries? I'm guessing that you probably would have had to file some kind of evidence that you had been injured if you were going to take this any further. Did you manage to get any medical records?
RF: Well initially police had taken me to CWM (Colonial War Memorial) Hospital and I was there for two nights and then discharged from CWM Hospital. On the discharge papers all it said was I had tenderness in my chest. They had lost my x-rays. They wouldn't give me any evidence of anything broken, any broken ribs when I went back there after I was able to move around, so I had to go get my own x-rays done at Suva Private Hospital. After I had paid for my xrays they showed me I had six fractures on my ribs. It felt like CWM Hospital was covering up the actual injuries.
SR: So you've got this evidence now. Will you be taking it to the police? Will you be following up and pressing for some kind of investigation?
RF: Because the actual files charges weren't filed for the drunk and disorderly and resist arrest I thought maybe I'd just leave it at that because if I follow up, I'd rather just avoid the situation altogether if they're willing to avoid the situation. I've had to get my family to come and look after me until I can get back on my feet and earn my keep. I've been able to move around so I can work but some of the work that I do I can't actually do yet. I'm a diver so I can't really wear the gear for the tanks yet. They're still a bit too heavy but I reckon maybe in about another week or two.
SR: So you think you're just going to drop the whole thing now?
RF: Well I'm going to wait to see, if they push with the charges for the drunk and disorderly and resist arrest stuff then I'll push on with the beating because in my defence, resist arrest, I was resisting getting beaten.
