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PINA COMMENDS LOCAL MEDIA IN FACE OF PRESSURES

"Fiji's independent news media are operating as normal and without censorship even though martial law has been declared and an interim military government has taken over running the country," reports the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA). On 29 May, the Fijian Military Forces assumed power under the head of Commodore Frank Bainimarama. Bainimarama says that the military has taken over with "much reluctance" due to "the rapid breakdown in law and order" since the attempted coup on 19 May, notes PINA. The military also took control due to the stalemate reached in negotiations to free former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and parliamentarians still being held by attempted coup leader George Speight.

On 19 May, Suva businessman Speight and armed gunmen seized the elected government of Chaudhry in an attempted coup. Increasing lawlessness ensued in the country since the coup attempt with the murder of a police officer and the ransacking and closure of the national service Fiji Television on 28 May by "a mob of what have been described as Speight supporters," reports PINA. In addition, on 27 May, Associated Press Television News cameraperson Jerry Harmer was shot and wounded as he was filming a confrontation between Fiji Military Forces soldiers and armed Speight supporters near Fiji's parliament in Suva.

Despite the enormous pressures facing the media since 19 May, they have done an excellent job in covering a very difficult situation, asserts PINA. "They have balanced the need for providing their people with the facts and not worsening a volatile situation with sensational stories based on rumour or gossip," says PINA president William Parkinson. State-owned and independent radio stations have continued to broadcast hourly news bulletins and news directors have said that "there was no military censorship," reports PINA. Armed soldiers have been guarding the Radio Fiji building and have provided security to Fiji TV media workers, who resumed broadcasting on 30 May. PINA cautions, however, that the "misreporting" on the crisis in Fiji by many foreign media groups who have not been sensitive to the complicated nature of the situation has threatened efforts to promote media freedom in the region.

PINA points to several news sources for updates on the situation in Fiji, including e-mail coverage provided by PINA's "PINA Nius Online" (pina@is.com.fj) and the Pacific Islands Broadcasting Association's Pacnews services (piba@is.com.fj) and three Fiji news websites: Fiji Village (http://www.fijivillage.com/news/); Fijilive (http://www.fijilive.com/); and the University of the South Pacific (http://www.usp.ac.fj/journ/).