"Not only must justice be done; it must also be seen to be done."
The release from prison on Wednesday, on Community Supervision Orders, of eight soldiers and a policeman, barely four months into their four year four month sentence for manslaughter raises serious doubts about the sincerity of the Fiji Government, and does nothing for its credibility. I do not know who authorized their release but Attorney-General and Acting PM Aiyaz Khaiyum must have known about the decision and if he did not know then, he does now.* It is not too late for him to correct this wrong.
No government purportedly intent on justice can condone the unecessary, brutally prolonged and cowardly assault on 19-year old Sakuisa Rabaka, in January 2007 (yes, it took that long to come to court). But the early release of his assailants does just that. The assault may be "written off" as a one-off abuse of power by nine over-zealous or sadistic individuals; their release -- uncorrected -- can only be attributed to one huge misuse of power by the State.
Their release has been rightly condemned by Citizens' Constitutional Forum CEO Rev. Akuila Yabaki, Peter Waqavonovono of the Young People's Concerned Network , the Coupfourpointfive blog and others. Yabaki called it "an abhorrent decision that undermines the rule of law" adding that, with no High Court yet in place, there is no opportunity for judicial review of the decision. He said the Interim Government is behaving in a partisan manner and giving preferential treatment to soldiers and police who support the regime, adding that the “CCF is alarmed that the military is making a mockery of the justice system in a similar manner as the Qarase government."
This last comment is particularly telling because it refers to the Qarase government's release of seven chiefs, two former military officers and a politician, also on Compulsory Supervision Orders, who had been convicted for offences of unlawful oath, unlawful assembly, possession of firearms and wrongful detention, in relation to the May 2000 coup. At that time the CCF and Bainimarama had protested their release. Indeed, Qarase's tolerance to the 2000-coup perpetrators was a major reason Bainimarama gave for his 2006 military takeover.
The YPCN is discussing a process to campaign against the release and send the murderers back to jail. "We owe this to the memory of Sakuisa Rabaka, our hero and the reason youth activism needs to continue under these strange circumstances." My thanks to the CCF and YPCN postings. I shall attempt to comment on the even more serious implications of the assailants' release -- the non-separation of the judiciary from the legislative and executive arms of government -- in my next, or a later, post.
* POSTCRIPT. The release was authorized by Brig.Gen. Ioane Naivalurua, Commissioner of Prisons. The new prison policy of using community rehabilitation to reduce the incidence of reoffending is commendable in many cases, but most definitely not in this high profile case.
1 comment:
But first ask, why did the soldiers beat up Rabaka? Weren't they stopping him from contaminating a dam? What if Rabaka was trying to put poison in the dam? What if Rabaka's actions had killed hundreds of citizens? Weren't the army officers just trying to maintain order and protect the citizens of Fiji? Sure they should not have punished Rabaka. They should have just stopped him. Also, can't the Court be wrong? To me, stopping the potential harm to hundreds of citizens is the most important act. The soldiers should not have been found guilty.
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