Fiji’s military regime plans to ban foreign companies from owning local media and to jail journalists for up to five years for breaking rules, according to a draft media decree released yesterday. Military leader Voreqe Bainimarama has been at odds with some of Fiji’s newspapers and broadcasters since he toppled the elected government in a 2006 coup. The self-appointed prime minister introduced military censors into newsrooms last year to stamp out “negative” stories, but these will soon be replaced by the media decree.
Under the decree, news reports would be required to exclude material which is “against the public interest or order”, or could cause “communal discord”. Any journalist or media proprietor breaking the decree rules could be imprisoned for up to five years.
In New Zealand, University of Canterbury media law expert Ursula Cheer said the definitions such as public interest were not defined in the decree and the penalties were “of great concern”. “First of all they are quite high… and these are for any type of offence described in the decree,” she told Radio New Zealand.
(Source: AFP)
