FIJI UPDATE: BAINIMARAMA TO INDIA; CJ FATIAKI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SUVA 000060

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV CJAN PHUM FJ
SUBJECT: FIJI UPDATE: BAINIMARAMA TO INDIA; CJ FATIAKI
TRIBUNAL BEGINS; MORE JUDICIARY TROUBLES; IWOC WINNER
PRESSURED

REF: SUVA 040

Classified By: Amb. Dinger. Sec. 1.4 (B,D).

Summary
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1. (C) Fiji interim Prime Minister Bainimarama departed Suva
today for medical consultations in India. His departure
suggests he does not consider current dissent within the
military to be overly threatening. The interim government
(IG) tribunal created to consider allegations against
suspended Chief Justice Fatiaki re-convened today. Fatiaki
did not appear. The legitimacy of the IG's Fiji Court of
Appeals (FCA) has come under attack, including by Fiji's
International Women of Courage award winner Virisila
Buadromo, who is to receive her award in Washington in early
March. Three FCA justices called Buadromo in for a
dressing-down, but the media event appeared an indictment of
the FCA itself. The Fiji Law Society president has
reaffirmed that the FLS does not consider IG-appointed judges
to be legitimate. End summary.

Bainimarama to India for a week: medical consultation
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2. (C) As foreseen reftel, interim PM Bainimarama departed
today, Feb. 13, on a week-long medical trip to New Delhi,
India. Bainimarama was accompanied by his wife and his
military physician, Dr. Senilagakali. The Indian High
Commissioner has informed us that high-level meetings with
the Indian Government are unlikely, since the PM, Foreign
Minister, and Defense Minister are all away from New Delhi.
Bainimarama reportedly plans to visit Agra (the Taj Mahal)
and Chennai, where a number of military-affiliated Fijians go
for medical care. Comment: Bainimarama has a history of
blood-pressure/heart issues. He used to consult specialists
in New Zealand, before the GNZ imposed visa sanctions
following the Dec. 2006 coup. Rumors have circulated in Suva
of discontent within the military. It would appear that
Bainimarama must not take such rumors seriously. If he were
truly concerned, he would not be likely to take a trip abroad
at this time. That said, destabilizing pressures remain at
play, particularly within the ethnic-Fijian community.

Tribunal convenes in Chief Justice Fatiaki case
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3. (SBU) The tribunal established by the interim government
(IG) to hear the case against Chief Justice Fatiaki
re-convened Feb. 13 in Suva. The three international judges
led by a retired Aussie clearly had expected Fatiaki to
appear, but his lawyers kept him away, pending adjudication
of their request to receive documents that have so far been
denied them. The initial IG explanation for suspending
Fatiaki in January 2007 was that he had wrongfully provided
advice to Fiji's political leadership during the
constitutional crisis that surrounded a coup in 2000. In the
end, most of the charges laid relate to tax-evasion
allegations. Critics, including in the media, have suggested
a double standard: Fatiaki is being tried on tax charges; but
the IG flatly refuses to investigate allegations that a
senior IG minister (Finance Minister Chaudhry) engaged in tax
evasion on a far larger scale over several recent years.

Judicial troubles mount
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4. (SBU) As noted reftel, the International Bar Association
announced its intention to have a team visit Fiji next week
to take a look at the judiciary. Interim Attorney General
Sayed-Khaiyum said thanks but no thanks. Last we heard it
appeared the IBA was still intending to come. In the
meantime, more illustrations of judiciary problems have
arisen. The Fiji Court of Appeal (FCA) began its February
session with a ceremony accenting the new-look FCA's
diversity. Past appeals courts, drawn from abroad, tended to
be white and male. The IG's FCA, drawn entirely from the
IG's trial-court judges, includes two women and a Fijian.
The Fiji Law Society (FLS) failed to show up for the
ceremony, igniting a flurry of media accusations. The FLS
has announced it does not accept the legitimacy of the IG's
judge-selection process since the coup, including the
legitimacy of several of the FCA members. The interim AG and
the controversial Ombudsman/Fiji Human Rights Commission
Director, Shaista Shameem, are not amused.

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Attempt to stifle criticism by IWOC winner Buadromo
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5. (SBU) On Feb. 12, three members of the FCA called Fiji's
International Women of Courage award winner, Virisila
Buadromo, and the editor of the Fiji Sun newspaper before the
court for a tongue-lashing. Justices Shameem, Scutt, and
Goundar criticized the two for making allegedly erroneous
media statements about the legality of the current FCA, among
other issues. Buadromo, who is due to visit Washington in
early March to receive her IWOC award, brought along her
lawyer, who challenged the right of the judges to haul people
in, absent a cause of action before the court.

Comment
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6. (C) The IG and its judicial backers deeply resent public
criticism of their legitimacy and motives. It appears to us
that the efforts by the judges, the interim AG, and Shaista
Shameem to defend themselves are only digging the current
judiciary into a deeper hole.
DINGER