National Federation Party formally lodges Police complaint against FTA General Secretary over racist threats
The National Federation Party has formally lodged a criminal complaint with the Fiji Police Force against Fijian Teachers Association (FTA) General Secretary Paula Manumanunitoga over racist and threatening statements published on Facebook.
The complaint was lodged by NFP Assistant General Secretary Apenisa Vatuniveivuke at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters in Suva at 11am this morning.
The complaint concerns statements attributed to Mr Manumanunitoga in which he questioned the right of fellow Fijians to belong in Fiji and threatened to catch people and roast them in earth ovens.
The NFP has requested that Police investigate possible offences under Section 17(1)(a) and (b) of the Public Order Act 1969, Section 65(2) of the Crimes Act 2009 and Section 375 of the Crimes Act 2009, relating to racial antagonism, communal antagonism and criminal intimidation.
Speaking after lodging the complaint, Mr Vatuniveivuke said the Party considered the matter sufficiently serious to warrant immediate criminal investigation.
"Fiji has been down this road before. Racial hostility and inflammatory rhetoric accompanied political upheavals that brought this country to its knees. We cannot allow the language of racial intimidation to become normalised once again.
"There is a fundamental difference between freedom of expression and threatening horrific violence against fellow citizens. Nobody should be made to feel unsafe or unwelcome in their own country because of their ethnicity," Mr Vatuniveivuke said.
Party Leader Professor Biman Prasad reiterated the NFP's call for decisive Police action.
"We have now formally placed this matter before the Police. We expect a thorough and impartial investigation and appropriate criminal charges where the evidence establishes an offence.
"Fijians of Indian descent are not guests in this country. We are citizens with the same rights, dignity and entitlement to security as every other Fijian. Such threats must never be tolerated," Professor Prasad said.
The NFP said the matter must now be investigated in accordance with the law, without fear or favour.
ENDS
National Federation Party
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