Fiji's PM threatens media with more deportations

06/05/2008 02:15:59

Fiji's military commander and interim prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama has told senior Fiji media executives that the Fiji Times publisher, Evan Hannah, will not be the last expatriate deported.

Our reporter Sean Dorney reports from Suva, Commodore Bainimarama invited the Fiji Media Council and senior Fiji media executives to a meeting in his office in the wake of last Friday's deportation of Evan Hannah.

Both sides agree there was a robust exchange of views in the hour long meeting.

According to one participant, Fiji's interim prime minister told the media bosses he was not at liberty to explain why Mr Hannah was deported, but said other expatriates were likely to follow.

The media executives complained about intimidation of their staff and they have won an undertaking from the commodore that he will meet with them monthly to try to sort out problems between his government and the country's mainstream media.

Meantime, deported Australian Fiji Times Managing Director Evan Hannah says he will continue to do his job from offices in the city of Sydney

Mr Hannah was expelled from Fiji on Friday.

It was eleven weeks ago that another Australian, Fiji Sun publisher Russell Hunter was thrown out of the country also

Australia's foreign affairs minister Steven Smith says Mr Hanna's deportation and the conduct of the interim fiji government is rephrehensible and deserves nothing but condemnation by the international community.

Mr Hannah was forced out despite a High Court intervention order which is now the subject of a hearing on Wednesday.

He says he does not think Wednesday's hearing will achieve much.

"I don't think in reality I think is going to resolve much except some legal issues and some clarity about how the government has to behave from now on if it chooses to follow the rule of law," Mr Hannah said.

"We then have some challenges ahead about the actual validity of the deportation order in terms of referring to me as a threat to national security or in some breach of my work permit."

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