Fiji
Journalists covering crisis are deportedPosted Apr 21 2009
Foreign journalists covering Fiji’s political crisis were deported April 13, reported the Pacific Islands News Association and the International Freedom of Expression Exchange.
Reporter Sia Aston and cameraman Matt Smith from New Zealand’s TV 3 network and Australian Broadcasting Corporation Television journalist Sean Dorney were taken in by the authorities in Suva, the capital of Fiji, reported PINA and IFEX
Dorney told Pacnews that he got a call from the Information Ministry that the government was unhappy with his reporting on the political crisis.
Fiji’s president on April 10 abolished the country’s constitution and sacked the judiciary in response to a court ruling that the interim government imposed after a 2006 military coup was illegal, reported PINA and IFEX.
“At the hotel I received a call from the same ministry official who wanted to know whether I would agree to return home voluntarily, but I told them that I was sent here to cover the event and I would not return voluntarily,” Dorney said.
Dorney’s phones and hired vehicle key were seized later and he was told to prepare to travel to Nadi International Airport, according to PINA and IFEX.
More information
- International Freedom of Expression Exchange