TV3 team stopped from interviewing Mara's wife

The reporting team from TV3 in New Zealand have been shepherded off from the home of Dolores Mara, the wife of Roko Ului Mara.

They had been covering the story of how she and other Mara family members have been under investigation by police since he turned up in Tonga late last week.

The TV3 team says Mara's wife has been central to the investigation and has already been spoken to by police several times.

It says Fiji authorities have told it: "We know that there are several associates who helped him escape to Tonga and also that Ratu Tavita is now a fugitive."

A story on the TV3 website says its team was near Dolores Mara's house in Tamavua near Suva, when it was told to go with police to the nearby police station.

TV3 says: "3 News staff were taken to central station in Suva and met by immigration officials, police, and members of the Ministry of Information, where they were questioned for two hours about the intention of their visit to Fiji, passports and travel itineraries were photocopied and they were told they are forbidden from speaking to Mara's wife Dolores, as Fijian officials were concerned it would compromise their investigation."
 

Watch video

Latest interview with Roko Ului Mara: I'm ready to testify against Bainimarama

1) What sort of military evidence do you have?

I can’t tell you the details now but it will be released over the coming weeks. I have documentary evidence of the corruption, the Human Rights abuses and even some relevant documents that go back to the 2000 Coup.

With regards to military evidence, orders given by Bainimarama were all verbal prior to, during and after 2006 till now. These orders included the detention of people, it was normally relayed through his Personal Staff Officers, it was a closely tight knit group involving only 5 senior officers and excluded the majority of the Military Council. As I've mentioned I’m ready to testify against Bainimarama. I know that I also will need to answer to the Fijian people when I return.

2) How will you use this to have Frank Bainimarama removed?

Again, I can’t go into details. There is a plan we are working towards the removal of this regime. It will not happen overnight but it will happen.

3) How is your wife and would this be the third time she was taken to the barracks? What did they ask her?

She has been to the military camp twice this week and today, Saturday; she has to pay a third or fourth visit to CID. They are asking her to admit to helping me leave the country and knowing in advance that I was leaving. They have been putting pressure on her and Adi Koila Ganilau to change their original statements.

4) What's your thoughts on the investigation to find the person who was with you when you went out to Kadavu?

My statements and my presence here in Tonga is a big slap in the face of the regime. Bainimarama needs to save face and the only way they can do that is by framing someone as an accomplice to my escape. As I said I went fishing by myself and I got into difficulties and I was rescued by a Tongan Navy vessel. I am a military officer and I am perfectly capable of organizing a Fishing trip.

5) Tim McBride has been named as the surfer accompanying you ... is this why his wife, Adi Koila Ganilau, is being questioned?

You will have to ask CID. I cannot answer for their actions. All I can say is that they are looking in the wrong direction. No one else was involved in organizing my fishing trip.

The question to be asked is “where was the military surveillance that day?” Those surveillance teams are 3FIR men who used to be under my command. Their loyalty is still with me, each and every move they make is reported to me here in Tonga. I was fishing from Sunday to Tuesday before I got into difficulties. In that whole time no one knew I was missing. This indicates the lack of support for Frank in the Army. Police officer's I know have also voiced their dissatisfaction with the Regime and lack of support for Naivalurua whom they believe is another puppet of Khaiyum. These were both Fijian & Indian officers!!

6) Have any soldiers been in contact to pledge their allegiance and support to you?

I have been in contact with a lot of people in Fiji since my arrival from Tonga. I am getting calls and emails all the time. Soldiers in particular 3FIR officers and men have been pledging their support to me ever since I was sent on leave. I'm also getting a lot of support from the Police who are helping my efforts to make regime change happen. For obvious reasons I can’t divulge any more information.

7) Was a civilian supposed to be PM when Bainimarama took over the country in 2006? 

I will cover this in the coming weeks, how unresolved investigations and matters from the 2000 crisis led to the 2006 coup, including the original plan.

Roko Ului Mara's aunt now in firing line

RO TEIMUMU KEPA

Retaliatory forces are at play with the regime now reported to be going after anyone connected with former senior military officer, Roko Ului Mara. We revealed last week the regime was freezing the assets of the Mara family. Insiders say the regime have now frozen the bank accounts of his aunt, Ro Teimumu Kepa, the Roko Tui Dreketi.



CID is also currently “interviewing” the following: Dolores Mara, Roko Ului Mara’s wife; Adi Koila Ganilau, her husband, Tim Mcbride, and at least four other individuals.

McBride is accused of being the surfer who accompanied Roko Ului Mara out to Kadavu. It's believed CID have said they don't have any evidence, so can't charge anyone but Frank Bainimarama has insisted someone be charged before the end of today.

HARASSED: Adi Koila and Tim McBride

VASITI RITOVA wrote the story below yesterday, detailing the harassment the Mara family is currently experiencing.

CALIFORNIA, USA (Friday, 05/20/2011) - Adi Ateca Mara-Ganilau was visited by six soldiers at their Tamavua home this morning and asked to get into a waiting army vehicle to go in for questioning.

She is the fourth member of the chiefly Mara Family to undergo harassment at the hands of the Fiji Military since her younger brother smashed a hole into Fiji's security net and was picked up by a Royal Tongan naval ship last weekend. 

Adi Ateca, eldest daughter of the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, founding father of modern Fiji, and the late Ro Lady Lala Mara, paramount chief of Burebasaga, gave the soldiers an ear-rubbing lecture.

Soldiers sheepishly fronted up at the Ganilau home in Tamavua and were shocked to be confronted by Adi Ateca herself. She was asked to give up her cellfone and go in for questioning.

She told them sternly that if anyone wanted to take her cellfone away and question her too, it will have to be Bainimarama himself or the Commissioner of Police Lt/Col Iowane Naivalurua.

It's believed this is a tactic employed by Bainimarama's regime to try and cut off the Mara Family's access to Roko Ului in Tonga. Roko Ului has said this week he keeps in touch with his family and his wife's arrest caused him distress.

Also in the line of the military fire is Dolores Mara, wife of Fiji-declared fugitive Col Tevita Uluilakeba (Roko Ului) Mara, who was taken in two days ago, after she was arrested at Nausori Airport for trying to send her husband a bag of clothes on a Tonga-bound Air Pacific flight. It's believed Ms Mara is undergoing some family counselling regarding her ordeal.

The couple's assets have now been frozen by Bainimarama's regime and Ms Mara's movements restricted.

Also taken in on Wednesday night was Roko Ului's cousin, Ratu Raivalita Laifone, son of Ratu Sir Kamisese's brother Ratu Laifone. Ratu Raivalita is Operations Manager for Lau Shipping Ltd, of which Roko Ului is Chairman.

Soldiers also picked up Adi Koila Ganilau, daughter of Adi Ateca and Ratu Epeli Ganilau, and forcibly took her to her Pacific Harbour home two days ago and had her house ransacked. It's believed Roko Ului spent a lot of his spare time at the young Ganilau's home in Pacific Harbour, a rural country area several kilometers off Suva.

Ganilau has been fronting up at the police station daily for further questioning.

The first house soldiers targeted as soon as Roko Ului released his first video on You Tube last Saturday, at mid-day local time, was that of another of his elder sisters, Adi Litia Mara-Dugdale, along Ratu Cakobau Road. The Dugdales live across the road from Gordon House, the official residence of the British High Commissioner, and the headquarters of the Fiji Public Service Commission atop Albert Park. 

Meanwhile, Royal household staffers in the Kingdom of Tonga told this journalist that Queen Mata'aho paid Roko Ului a visit at Polata'ane House on Thursday.

"He is being looked after well by everyone," they say.

'Dictator's hold on Fiji is crumbling'

New Zealand Herald editorial, today's paper, May 21

Sooner or later Fijians will wake up to the profound insolence of a self-appointed leadership telling them it knows their best interest and does not care for their vote.


Dictatorships fall when basic human resentment at the removal of rights and freedoms can no longer be repressed. Fijians have much to resent.


The dramatic flight to Tonga a week ago of their former third-ranked military officer, Lieutenant Colonel Tevita Mara, who was "rescued" at sea, shows that resentments now boil within the regime.


Colonel Mara, son of Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, the country's founding Prime Minister, called for the overthrow of the Government of Frank Bainimarama.
It was, he said, a "hateful dictatorship". He accused Commodore Bainimarama of being ill, morally and intellectually bankrupt, and acting as a "hand puppet" of Fiji's civilian Attorney-General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
The YouTube video of Colonel Mara's message to Fijians also targeted those still serving in the armed forces.


Interestingly, the colonel fled after being charged with making seditious comments and inciting mutiny. The high-level arrests were not reported in the censored Fijian media.


Colonel Mara says he and another leading officer had given advice to their commander on how to soften the regime's approach to public dissent. That in itself was seen as betrayal. But public dissent is at the heart of this.


If Colonel Mara had not been making seditious comments and inciting mutiny before, he certainly is now. It is something of a Damascene conversion. He accepts he will answer to Fijians for his time serving the regime, having commanded the army's third infantry regiment at the time of the 2006 coup.


Nevertheless, the advice he gave Commodore Bainimarama that led to his being charged and now his public stand from Nuku'alofa exhibit great courage deserving of national and international support.

Fiji has predictably dragged out allegations that the formerly trusted colonel is being investigated over missing funds from Fiji Pine. It is blustering about Tonga's involvement.


The Tongan King, George Tupou V, counts the Mara clan as relatives, and his Government is playing it cool, saying any bid for extradition will be handled independently by Tonga's courts. It notes Fiji must show good grounds for the charges laid against Colonel Mara.


Most likely, this is the point where the Bainimarama regime will struggle. Its concept of "rule of law" is peculiar to its ilk. In Nuku'alofa there are no handpicked Bainimarama regime judges ready to apply Mr Sayed-Khaiyum's rulebook.


Directly or indirectly Tonga is standing up for Fijians' right to be heard. Having undergone its own tentative transformation to real democracy, it now does the democratic cause in the wider South Pacific a valuable service.


New Zealand is steering clear of taking sides. Foreign Minister Murray McCully noted the division in the regime and said intervention would not be helpful. He is probably right.

Commodore Bainimarama tries to convince Fijians that criticism from Australia and New Zealand is some kind of post-colonial hang-up from nations with no clue of the cultural and societal goals of his armed rule.


Colonel Mara's insider view is far more powerful, in any case. A leading Fijian Establishment military man is calling things as they are.


He hopes Tonga's system will resist pressure and prevent Suva forcing him home before the regime is itself in the dock, answering to Fijians for the abuses and misrule it has perpetrated. The case will be a milestone in Fiji's return to freedom.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10727019

Key evidence could ensure the end of Bainimarama and regime

DEATH AT THE HANDS OF POLICE: The funeral of Nimilote Verebasaga.



One of Frank Bainimarama's former land force commanders says it's possible the illegal leader could be prosecuted in an international court of law if there's enough evidence to prove human rights violations.

Jone Baledrokadroka says some discussions were held about gathering evidence against Bainimarama after he abrogated the 1997 Constitution in 2009, but nothing ever came of it.

Roko Ului Mara, Bainimarama's former third infantry commander, is now said to be preparing to reveal more damaging information about the regime.

Television New Zealand has reported that he has shown them evidence of secret military intelligence he has with him and is due to reveal soon, in a bid to undermine the military government of Bainimarama.

Baledrokadroka says the Australian-based Fiji democracy movement has talked of taking Bainimarama to the International Criminal Court and serving summons on him in South Korea or Hong Kong (at the time Fiji's ties weren't so strong with China), where he normally transits on his world trips.

The PhD student in politics at ANU who was expelled in 2006 for alleged insubordination, says there would have to be evidence of human rights violations, draconian decrees if not genocide or mass political imprisonment for Fiji's case to be taken up by the ICC.

If successful, participating member states would keep a lookout for when Bainimarama transited through; he would then be arrested to answer to the charges.

The Ivory Coast President, Alassane Ouattara, just yesterday asked the ICC to investigate allegations of serious human rights crimes committed during the recent fighting over the results of the November elections.

An estimated 3,000 people were killed during the four-month election dispute between his forces and those loyal to incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo, who was finally captured last month after French forces intervened.

In Fiji, deaths have certainly occured since Bainimarama was army commander and since he became the illegal prime minister after he staged the 2006 Coup.

In 2000, four rebel soldiers were beaten to death by soldiers loyal to him during a mutiny (and the famous cassava patch run) at QEB barracks. Forty-two soldiers were later convicted of the deaths but it has always been believed Bainimarama gave the orders 'shoot to kill'.

In January 2007, Fiji citizen Sakiusa Rabaka died after he was taken to camp with a group of men on suspicion of buying marijuana. The group were allegedly forced to rape one another for the amusement of soldiers and Rabaka was so badly beaten, he later died.

Tevita Malasebe and Nimilote Verebasaga also died at the hands of Fiji police, during Bainimarama's time in power.

There has certainly been no shortage of examples of human rights abuses at the Queen Elizabeth barracks, with a number of citizens being able to identify the military officers who've assaulted or terrorised them. A number of these violations, including the recent one of Sam Speight, have been documented.

Human rights activists and blogs like Coupfourpointfive have been gathering and publicising information of abuse, such as those committed by Bainimarama's QEB Goons, whenever possible.

But it's hoped Roko Ului Mara, who has been part of Bainimarama's inner sanctum thanks to being commander of the third infantry and a member of the Military Council, has the 'killer' evidence that will ensure the dictator is held accountable for the crimes.
 

And if he can extricate himself from the many fishhooks that abound over how he got from Fiji to Tonga last week to reveal some dynamite previously untold information, it will be truly a case of the one that got away.

Samoan PM blames global warming for Fiji-Tonga storm

Due to popular demand we're publishing one of the best salvos yet from Tuilaepa, Samoa's prime minister. 

Tuilaepa has had a lively relationship with Frank Bainimarama but he delivers here what is probably his most amusing observation yet of the woes of his sparring partner.

Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi who just returned from Turkey today blames the current storm-in-a-teacup between Fiji and Tonga on Global Warming.

Asked for comment, the Prime Minister in the best of the Samoan tradition of fagogo (spinning a yarn) said:

“After reading the reported facts, I am super clear that the Fiji colonel went out fishing and got into problems with the current that sucks every debris into the Tongan Trench.

“That the Tongan boat - basking in the sunny ocean - spotted the lone colonel and went in to help. That the fisherman was none other than King George’s relation is of pure coincidence.

“Only in the Pacific do coincidences of this nature are aplenty. So in essence, Commodore Bainimarama should be thanking the Tongan government for rescuing Mara.

“He should be telling off his own navy for not helping. Perhaps that’s what happens when their admiral spends all his time in politics leaving the navy headless.

“You see, if it wasn’t for the Tongan boat and its alert crew, Mara would probably be in South America by now. Bainimarama then should thank the Tongan king and apologize for all the trouble this incident had caused.”

The only complication these days, said Tuilaepa, are when one introduces un-Polynesian concepts such as sovereignty and territorial waters.

“Those are imported concepts. Back in the olden days, you are free to roam the oceans and feast on its bounties. It belonged to nobody but to everybody. It’s a way of life that is above and beyond the purview of modern-day international maritime law.”

“And drifting fishermen are not new in this part of the world especially as hundreds of fishing canoes leave the villages to go out to fish and joyride every day. Some fishermen occasionally get swept off to the open sea and get picked up by other fishermen in nearby islands. For Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, it is tradition that you go out and rescue strayed fishermen in distress then offer them your best hospitality.

“But these incidents are happening all too often these days. Climate change and global warming has meant stronger currents and more fishermen getting cast adrift.

“If anything then is to be blamed for the current Fiji-Tonga hair-pulling, it is climate change.

“Australia therefore should provide us with more naval boats and high-tech oceanic tracking equipment so we can quickly go out and rescue our castaway fishermen.

(Shaking head) “With the way they (fishermen) are getting carried out to sea at the moment, we might not have any more fishermen left by 2012. And if more colonels in Fiji go fishing – eventually – there will be no more army to prop up Baini.” 

Samoa, the Prime Minister said, does not have a navy except for its lone Police patrol boat.

“In the villages, search and rescue is carried out by a flotilla of fishing canoes. So if one canoe is swept out, you can lose another 20 looking for it.”

The media, said Tuilaepa, are making too big a fuss of what is really a matter in the fale (house).

“It’s really a storm in a teacup. Fiji and Tonga are very close. We have a concept that best describes these two. The Samoan word togafiti aptly describes the warm relations that exists between Fijians and Tongans, the mutual backs-scratching in times of itchiness and the occasional brotherly squabble that occurs between these two.

Togafiti therefore in English, simply means, the Pacific Way.

His advice to Commodore Bainimarama?

“Go fishing. Likely you’ll be picked up by the same Tongan phantom boat that will take you to Nukualofa. After a long tit-for-tat there with Mara and the King, no doubt Bainimarama will come back ready to put Fiji back to the road to democracy and a better understanding of the rule of law and, of course, the law of the sea."

Peter Foster's escape back to haunt Bainimarama

If the illegal government of Frank Bainimarama is feeling frustrated at Roko Ului Mara's "I got into distress at sea" story, it should cast its mind back to 2007 and Peter Foster.

The Australian investor was well-known on these shores at the time after a dramatic escape to Vanuatu from Fiji, were he had been held by police to face several charges, including fraud.

Foster, who was known locally as "international conman", had been used by Bainimarama in a sting to gather supposed evidence of corruption against the Laisenia Qarase SDL government.

Foster, who'd initially started out in Fiji as a supporter for Tupeni Baba's New Labour Party (he'd shelled thousands of dollars into the campaign), was staying at his home on Denarau Island when he disappeared in January 2007.

He mysteriously turned up in Port Vila, Vanuatu, but was caught and soon after sentenced to six weeks jail for entering the country illegally.

How Foster, who was also known to police in Australia, Britain and Federated States of Micronesia, came to be in Port Vila was kept under wraps by Fiji police at the time.

It was generally believed, though, his regime minders had helped him escape by boat.  

The regime never owned up to it publicly but was forced to later admit it had engaged the services of an Australian conman to expose supposed vote rigging in the election that had brought Qarase to power.

Foster had spilled the beans saying he'd met Bainimarama weeks before and had agreed to take part in a covert operation involving Navi Talai Naisoro, the SDL's Party's electoral strategist, to clear his own name.

Fiji police:surfer holds key to Mara's fishing saga

FBC is this morning reporting a surfing instructor is believed to be the man who took Roko Ului Mara to Nagigia Resort in Kadavu and later went fishing with him before he headed to Tonga.

Police told the station they are looking to establish who booked the room at the resort in Kadavu where Mara stayed in, the night before he left Fiji.

FBC says the man's name is known to police and investigations are continuing.
 

Meanwhile, Tonga's pro-democracy MP, Aikilisi Pohiva, has told Radio Australia Roko Ului's rescue by a Tongan patrol boat could seriously affect diplomatic relations.
 

But Pohiva believes Ratu Tevita Mara's presence in the Kingdom is justified on humanitarian grounds.

"Well our diplomatic relationship between Tonga and Fiji is very much affected in this case, because Bainimarama had already forwarded his request to Tongan government to send him back to Fiji. For the Tongan vessel to enter Fiji water to rescue someone who is alleged to have committed a criminal offence clearly breaches the international or the diplomatic relationship between Tongan government and Fiji. That is my first point."

"The second point from a humanitarian perspective, the Tongan government is quite justified for accepting his request for help."

Pohiva says it is up to Roko Ului whether he wants to continue to stay in Tonga or move to Australia and New Zealand.
 

"He can of course continue to live in Tonga if Tongan government is willing to protect him or he may choose to move out of Tonga and to another country.  But the problem is his family is still in Fiji, so from now on, I don't think he can go back to Fiji and I don't think Tongan government can release him, because he made a special request to Tongan government and the Tongan government said according to the Minister of Police there's a good ground, there's a ground for the Tongan government to protect Tevita Uluilakeba Mara."

Roko Ului Mara's wife being questioned again

Insiders say the wife of Roko Ului Mara is being questioned for a second time and had her house raided this afternoon.

She is still being interviewed at CIF HQ in Toorak.

Also being interviewed is Adi Koila Ganilau, the daughter of the Epeli Ganilau, the former Defence Minister.

Her house was also raided by military police this afternoon.

Sources have also said the president, Epeli Nailatikau, remains at this official residence tonight, despite reports to the contrary a short time ago.

An insider says the threat to his removal remains very real but offshore publicity, has put the illegal attorney general, Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum, and the illegal leader, Frank Bainimarama, on the back foot.  

Bainimarama is still in Kadavu, reportedly stranded because of problems with the military boat that took him over. 

A source says the illegal PM has recently boosted security at his residence, including a newly-built fortified guard house at the main entry point, as shown in the map.

'The New Fiji is in Your Hands'

Sources have sent this statement to Coupfourpointfive, saying it comes from the Strategic HQ Desk.

They have asked it be printed in its entirety, saying it is a message for the people of Fiji. 

We have done that but please note we have also sent questions to these strategists asking them to detail more fully what the following statement is aimed at and how realistic it is

THE NEW FIJI IS IN YOUR HAND STAND UP AND BE COUNTED
NA VITI VOU SA TU ENA LIGAMU TUCAKE KA YAVALA MO WILI ENA I LAKOLAKO VOU

Sa dodonu meda na  marautaka na veisau vou sa na kida mai ni sana sucu vou na noda vanua ena dua na veiliutaki vou kei ira era na cakacaka kina.Meda vakarau uvu davui ni qaqa ni sana bale ena vakaloloma kana tau bitalaki ki ra ka na vakasequruquru bati o koya na kawa ni tevoro vei Lucifer Bainimarama kei na luve ni anti Christ na Taliban Aiyaz Kyaihum.Sa tuvani oti tu vakamatata na nodraui matemate o Khaiyum kei Bainimarama ka dodonu meda vakavinavinaka ni ra yalo dei ka ra yalo dina eso na noda mera biubiuta vata na plan oqo, o ira na turaga valu kei ira na satini era tiko ena keba kei ira na Turaga ni Ovisa era tiko ena vei police stations kei ira na tiko ena operations kei na NIB.Kevaka o kai Viti ka sosoko tu vei iko kei ira na nomu kawa na dra ni veivakaturaga taki oqo na gauna: mo na tucake bolebole,ka qaqa, ka mo vakarau yavala ena vukudra na luveda era muri tiko mai kei na kena  maroroi na noda vanua kei na kenai yau bula sa mai butakoca o Bainimarama kei Aiyaz Khaiyum ena nodrau vaqumi ena milioni na dola ka rau volitaka vei ira na kawa ni kominisi mai Jaina.

VEI KEMUNI NA LUVEI VITI

Ena loma ni dua na gauna lekaleka  ga mai oqo sana kacivaka kina na Turaga na Peresitedi ka Commander in Chief ni  mataivalu ni sa na vakasakea   NA MATANITU NEI BAINIMARAMA, KEI NA NONAI TUTU VAKA COMMANDER KA SA NA DIGITAKI EDUA NA COMMANDER VOU, NA COMMISSIONER NI OVISA VOU, LAND FORCE COMMANDER VOU, LIULIU NI NAVY VOU, LIULIU NI PRISON VOUKEI NA CABINET VOU LEWE 10 MAI VEI IRA NA LEWE NI VANUA mera na kauti viti kina veidigidigi ni 2012.

Lalawa 1.1

Sa mai vakadeitaki koya na Peresitedi ni Commander in Chief ka tu vua na executive authority ni vanua ka sa nona lewa mera kakua sara ni dua vei ira na lewenimativalu se ovisa kei na kena veiliutaki mera yavalata e dua na ka ena voroka kina na tiko sautu kei na tiko veilomani ni lewe ni vanua.Mera rokova ka doka na lewa ni veiliutaki ena vanua ni nodra cakacaka.ka sa tu vei ira na dodonu mera maroroya na tiko sautu,na tiko veilomani kei na kena dokai na veiliutaki .Na nodrai vola sa volai oti ka sa vakau wavoki vei ira na mtaivalu kei na ovisa.

Lalawa 1.2

Na lalawa oqo era biuta vata na PS kei ira na so era digitaki mai na bisinisi,talatala ni lotu,loya ni vunilawa kei ira eso na turaga ni vanua kei ira na mata ni matanitu era tiko oqo.

Lalawa 1.3

Sa volai oti na decree nona na Peresitedi ka sa vakayagataka kina okoya na nona kaukauwa me vakagalagala taka kina na Cabinet nei Bainimarama ena nona vunitaka tu na matanitu me kila na Peresitedi na levu ni veivoli lawaki ca rau cakava kei Khaiyum kei na levu ni corruption rau cakava ena loma ni matanitu.

Lalawa 1.4

Vakayacori na wili lewe ni vanua August karua ni wasewawse ni vuli 2011 kina Janueri 2012

Digitaki na Constitutuency Boundary’s Commission ka me oti na wili lewe ni vanua.

Digitaki na Constitution Commission  Dikevi na 1997 constitution ka curu na vei tiki ni peoples charter ena tubu kina tiko sautu.Time June 2011-May 2012.

Digitaki na election commission me curu kina  na “one man vote” me curu ena lawa ni matanitu vou 2012. June 2011-May 2012.

Lalawa 1.5

Dolavi na PER decree me sa soli na galala ni lewenivanua

Soli na galagala ni media

Dolavi na katuba vei Niusiladi kei Australia kei na matanitu vaka UN mera soli vakasala kei na veivuke vakailavo ni veidigidigi.

Sureti na international community mera vukei viti ena sara vanua kei veivoli.

Oqo nai tuvatuva dua ni lalawa ka san a kena gauna mo kila ni o iko o rawa ni kauta mai vakatotolo na veisau.

STRATEGY ONE:

NATIONAL PEACEFUL STRIKE, CIVIL DISOBIDIENCE AND ORDERLY UNREST

The peoples strike and government civil servants national sabotage action plan has been endorsed by senior military officials  from Saturday 21st to Friday May 27th.

Be absent from work and go on sick leave

Freeze all computers with volumes of smart viruses

Go slow on documents of policy in nature

Drive your minister to a hidden place where he can be put on house arrest.

Stop all payments of all ministers that is going to Nur Bano Ali and Zarin Khan

Put sedative in his tea to make him senile

Invite him to open a meeting and mix his water with a sweet ingredient that will put him to sleep.

Freeze faxes and phones by blocking its main power supply.

WATCH AND WAIT: NEW REGIME ANNOUNCED SOON

From the Strategic HQ Desk


English translation:
The new Fiji is in your hands, stand up and be counted in this chapter

We should be glad that a new chapter is beginning, and that a new leadership has been established and its personnel with it. Be prepared to blow the davui (conch shell) of victory because we will toss out the descendant of Lucifer Bainimarama and the Son of the Antichrist the Taliban Aiyaz Khaiyum. The demise of Bainimarama and Khaiyum has already been plotted and is ready to be executed and we should be appreciative that there are some brave men who are prepared to put this plan together. These are Army Officers, Police officers and sergeants from various Police posts and operations with the inclusion of NIB. If you are a Fijian and the blood and ways of Fijian protocol is strong in your veins, this is the time to stand up, be bold, be strong and be ready to act for the sake of our children, the safekeeping of our land and its resources, which Bainimarama and Khaiyum have gained millions for from descendants of communists and China.

SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF FIJI

In a not too distant future, His Excellency the President and Commander in Chief of the Military Forces will be announcing the removal of the Bainimarama Government and remove him from his position as Commander and one named in his place, a new Commissioner of Police, new Land Force Commander, new Navy Commander, new Commissioner of Prisons and a new cabinet chosen from the people to take us to elections in 2012.

Plan 1.

The president has been cemented in his position and he has executive authority over the land and he has advised that no one is to try and cause instability amongst the populace. They must respect the leadership in their place of work and they have the right to maintain harmony. His Excellency’s letter has already been circulated within the Police and Military Forces

Plan 1.2

These plans have been put together by PSs, chosen business heads, church ministers, lawyers of the judiciary and Chiefs and representatives of the government who are here.

Plan 1.3

The decree has been drawn up and he (President) is using his power to remove Bainimarama’s cabinet for the reason that he hid all his cunning transaction he conducted with Khaiyum and the corrupt practices they undertook within the government.

Plan 1.4

National censorship to be conducted August during second school term to January 2012.
Choosing the Constituency Boundary’s Commission at the completion of the censorship.
Choosing the Constitution Commission, review the 1997 Constitution and points that will promote progress and harmony from the People’s Charter to be entered.

Time June 2011-May 2012

Choosing of Election committee to enter “one man vote” in the new Constitution. June 2011-May 2012

Plan 1.5

Removal of PER and restoration of basic human rights.
Restore Media freedom.
Invitation to Australia, New Zealand, UN to advise and help finance the election
Open Fiji to the International Community for Trade and Tourism
This is part one and YOU are invited to take part in bringing this new change.

A Coupfourpointfive ode to the events of the week!

Sere Kali : ‘Mara sa Tiko- i –Toga’

Ni Vakarorogo na Veiwakani

Ko Mara sa Tikoitoga

Vanua Nacolase me lomani

O Kapaiwai sa vanayaliyali

Na mataivalu ni Viti sa Bai-ni- marama

Curu mai  na qaqa  mai Toga ra moce na yadra

Sau mada mai na manua

Botea na yalayala ni vanua me vueti Lutunauga

Ratu Bose volavola ki Lakeba

Ra moce lolo na kukuwalu

Lagakali na Rosi Damu

Isa Viti sa vaka ivei!

Sa dro o ravouvou me da mei cei?

Editor's Note: Here's an English translation.

Hear me my brethrens
Mara is in Tonga (pun on Colonel Tikoitoga name)
The Kadavu Islands are to be forgiven (Tikoitoga is from Kadavu and Frank's wife Mary is also from Kadavu)
Kapaiwai's (Mara) mast head has vanished (vanayaliyali - a name for his great ancestor, Mara Kapaiwai of Bau)


The Fiji Army is a fence for the ladies (Bainimarama)
The warriors from Tonga enters, yet the Fiji Navy sleeps
Their navy is powerful like of old
They crash our Fijian fences to rescue their kin Mara (Lutunauga) loke at the Battle of Kaba
Ratu Bose wrote to Lakeba (a pun on an old Laun love song)
Sleep well the Kukuwalu of Bau (an allusion to our President and Baun Tongan blood)
The sweet smelling lagakali and red rose of Bau ( a verse in Fijian Famous song 'Bau na yanuyanu' )

Lament Fiji what is happening!
Our Prince has escaped where do I belong?

Roko Ului Mara: The only threat to Fiji now is the military threat

Revealing answers from Roko Ului Mara in this interview with Radio New Zealand's 9 to Noon.

In it he says he can see now the 2006 coup was wrong but he, like others, felt it was right at the time.

"I believed in what we set out to do. I believed the cause was noble, although the way we conducted it was wrong. I believed that we needed a clean-up campaign to remove corruption that was in politics and business.

"I believed that racist laws that were about to be introduced by the SDL government would be a disaster for Fiji. I still believe those things."

Mara also talks about the loss of faith senior officers came to have in Frank Bainimarama and his leadership and how he allowed Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum to shape and influence the direction the illegal government was going.

Mara's information confirms what Coupfourpointifve has been reporting for some time. As recent as March this year, we were contacted by a senior officer who wanted out and who revealed then that Bainimarama had lost the plot  - and support.

Mara says it started to happen in 2008. Bainimarama changed about then and became more interested in his own position and took to ignoring the Military Council, preferring to listen to Khaiyum instead, who he says was out to dislodge the Council.

Asked why it took him so long to break away, Mara says he was hoping things would change but was forced to realise last year that Bainimarama was no longer interested in what his senior officers had to say.

Quote: "We were of no use to him."

As reported previously by Coupfourpointfive, Mara says Bainimarama has lost the loyalty of the troops and he keeps himself surrounded by 50 guards and a select few who do his dirty work.

Quote: "The only threat to Fiji now is the military threat. There's no outside threat."

Mara doesn't discount troops turning on Bainimarama but stopped short of saying it would definitely happen, saying going on previous trends it has been known to.

He denied participating in any of the abuse of citizens at QEB, saying he ran the third infantry but Bainimarama bypassed him, going straight to the men himself to get them to do things.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2489483/colonel-tevita-mara's-defection.asx

Roko Ului Mara: Wife roughed up

The former army commander says his wife has been released after being detained at QEB but she was given a hard time.

Mara is still in Tonga but has been in touch with his family.

Mara also details in this interview with Radio New Zealand's 9 to Noon programme how he came to be charged for saying "This Government is F*** All" and "It needs to change."


He also explains why he supported the 2006 Coup ("I thought then it was a noble cause") before Sayed Khaiyum's influence on Frank Bainimarama took hold.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2489483/colonel-tevita-mara's-defection.asx

Fiji's president and illegal PM reported to be moving into final face off

A political tug of war is taking place today in Fiji between the illegal president, Epeli Nailatikau, and the self-appointed prime minister, Frank Bainimarama.

Nailatikau was appointed by Bainimarama but has been out of favour for some time. The regime now believes it could have only been him who last week helped Roko Ului Mara, his wife Adi Koila's brother, get away to Tonga.

The Mara family has been under investigation since Roko Ului arrived in Nukualofa with Bainimarama trying to freeze all of the former army officer's assets, with instructions being given by the IRD. 

Mara's wife was briefly detained at the Queen Elizabeth barracks last night but was released after what was apparently routine questioning.

Bainimarama has been trying to shore up his support in recent weeks. Sources say 700 TF have been undergoing full training and are supposed to keep doing it for the next three months. Most of them are believed to have been  recruited from Naitasiri and Tailevu, not from Lau, Roko Ului Mara's home territory. 

He is also said to have authorised a $200 a day payment to each of the recruit from the next three months in an effort to buy their loyalty and to build his army.

The man many believe is the real power behind the scenes, the illegal attorney general, Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum, has kept low.

MR MEGA FUN: Khaiyum at a family party.

There's talk he's preparing to make his exit to Hong Kong but Coupfourpointfive understands Khaiyum is drawing up the paper's to remove Nailatikau.


Coupfourpointfive found this rare picture of Khaiyum (dubbed a 'meglomaniac' by Roko Ului Mara), whom many believe has lined his own pockets, thanks to the illegal decrees he's drawn up, which have allowed him to take backhanders and make direct profits from business activities.

Readers will remember that his Aunty, Nur Bano Ali, the chartered accountant, has also pocketed huge amounts of money thanks to handling many of the regimes major business dealings.

On a social networking page seen by Coupfourpointfive, his sister in law, Naina, boasted of getting diamonds from husband, Riyaz Khaiyum, for Valentines and a weekend at Denarau for Mothers Day. Riyaz Khaiyum runs the state-owned Fiji Broadcasting Corporation.

Roko Ului Mara names the Fiji soldiers brutalizing citizens

The soldiers guilty of human rights abuses have been singled out by Roko Ului Mara.

In these latest videos in the Fijian language, the former commander of the third infantry warns Penioni Naliva, Aseri Rokoura and Rabuka, to stop making people suffer, saying the time will come for them to answer to the people.

Naliva (pictured left with Bainimarama), Rokoura (pictured closest to Banimarama in the picture on the right) and 'Rabuka' (Savenaca Siwatibau) were all named recently by Coupfourpointfive as leading henchmen for Frank Bainimarama and the QEB Goons, who were beating and terrorising citizens.

In these videos, Roko Ului confirms our list and also tells two other senior soldiers, land force commander Mosese Tikoitonga (right) and Lieutenant Colonel Jone Kalouniwai, to wake up to the truth. He tells them to put  their education to good use and to open their eyes and stop being blind. He says they know very well what has been happening and that it's wrong.

Asked by media if he himself illegally detained civilians during the 2006 coup, Mara replied: "not directly .... but under directions." He said he "totally regretted it."

Roko Ului Mara says wife taken to QEB

Media in New Zealand have been told that the wife of Roko Ului has been taken to Queen Elizabeth Barracks for questioning. 

See video below.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Fiji-authorities-seize-wife-of-runaway-army-chief/tabid/313/articleID/211728/Default.aspx

Editor's Note at 9pm: Sources say Mara's wife was released earlier this evening after routine questioning.

News flash! Fiji's president reported to be preparing to counter Bainimarama's plan to sack him

More updates coming in on an earlier report Frank Bainimarama is about to remove the president, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau.

Sources now say senior army and police officers are advising Nailatikau to call a press conference within hours and announce:

1. That under his executive authority Nailatikau has now sacked Frank Bainimarama as Commander of RFMF.
2. That under his executive authority he has now sacked the Bainimarama Cabinet
3. That under his executive authority he has appointed a new RFMF Commander and Land Force Commander
4. That under his executive authority he has now appointed a new Police Commissioner
5. That he will announce an interim cabinet to lead Fiji to elections after consultations with relevant parties within next 36 hours.
6. And that he is seeking temporarily international support from the embassies to help him deliver his mandate.

Sources close to the President said to be advising him to go ahead and make the announcement then seek refuge in US embassy.

News flash! Bainimarama preparing to remove Nailaitikau within 24 hours

COVERING THE BASES: Bainimarama tipped to be sacking Nailatikau (front left of him) to ensure his power.

News is coming in that Frank Bainimarama is moving to finally sack the President to allow him to assume executive authority.

Sources say the illegal leader plans to remove Ratu Epeli Nailatikau within 24 hours and that the illegal attorney general, Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum, is in the midst of formalizing the paper work to allow it to happen.

The regime hierarchy has been meeting behind closed doors this afternoon. Bainimarama is in Kadavu.

Nailatikau was to have been removed in February and it seems being the brother-in-law of Roko Ului Mara has tipped against him.

He also didn't decommission Mara and Pita Driti, both of whom were finally charged with uttering seditious comments and in Driti's case, inciting mutiny.

Insiders say assuming the office of President will give Bainimarama absolute power to rule Fiji and be totally immune from any efforts to get rid of him.

It's believed only a legal authority will be able to sack Bainimarama's government and ask for intervention from the United States, New Zealand and Australia once he becomes president.

Sources say the removal of Nailaitukau will also put Mara at risk.

New interview with Roko Ului Mara: Judge me by my actions over the coming days

A New Zealand-based story today has suggested Roko Ului Mara may be allowed into the country, despite the fact he's on the ban list because he was a key figure in Frank Bainmarama's military government.

The possibility of that happening has led to more questions about Mara's ultimate plans. 

Below, he gives us some answers to some of the questions many of us are still asking. 

1) Are you seeking political refuge or asylum in New Zealand?
No I have not made contact with New Zealand for over 5 years. I have definitely not spoken to anyone from the New Zealand Government in the last 14 days. I have not even met with the New Zealand High Commissioner in Tonga. The story in the New Zealand Herald was news to me. I am obviously pleased to hear that I can go to New Zealand but I have no plans to do so at this time. I don’t even have a passport, despite Bainimarama’s lies; my lawyer surrendered my passport after the bail hearing in Suva.

2) How did the suggestion come about in the first place? Or was this always the plan? Many will say they believe it was.
Answered.

3) We are still getting questions about how you came to be in Tonga.
There was no plan for me to leave Fiji. I was fishing. I was in difficulties. I was rescued by the Tongan Navy.

4) Why did you refer to the 'tough bunch of Kiwis' in your second statement? We take that as a hint of possible contact between you and New Zealand that was not acknowledged at the beginning.

It is no way a hint. It is to remind everybody and especially the commodore who seems to have forgotten that the first rule of the sea is to help other mariners in distress. You don’t ask questions first and then decide to put them back if they give the wrong answer.

5) People reckon you had help to get out of Fiji.
I can assure you no one helped me escape to Tonga. I have had no help from Fiji with writing my speeches or making the videos. You should no better than anyone that Fiji is filled with rumour.

6) What is happening to the revelations about the regime you promised to deliver? People in Fiji have been waiting and have been asking again when you will reveal the information that will bring down the regime, including details of the 2006 coup. When are you going to do that?
You will definitely see revelations in my next statement.

7) People have already been saying you're out to save yourself; with news of you being allowed into New Zealand there will be even more criticism. What have you got to say to them?

I have nothing to say to them. But let them judge me by my actions over the coming day and weeks.

8) What has happened to the plan to save Fiji? Has that now become the plan to save Roko Ului Mara?
Again, let people judge me by what happens in the future.

Latest info on Roko Ului Mara coming up

Roko Ului answers Coupfourpointfive's questions about a newspaper story saying New Zealand may waive the travel bans for him.

Story on the way!

Major development: NZ now saying it may let Roko Ului Mara into the country

The New Zealand Herald is reporting Roko Ului Mara, who has taken refuge in Tonga, may be allowed into the country despite the travel sanctions.

This story was filed by the newspaper a short time ago under the heading "NZ may yet admit Fijian fugitive"

By Claire Trevett

5:30 AM Wednesday May 18, 201
 

The Government is considering removing travel sanctions on the former Fiji Army officer who faces an extradition hearing after fleeing to Tonga, says Prime Minister John Key.

Fiji yesterday lodged an application to extradite the former commander of its infantry regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Ratu Tevita Mara.
 

He is facing a charge of making seditious comments and was on bail when he was picked up by a Tongan Navy vessel and taken to Tonga last week, where he is being housed by the King.
 

A key figure in the 2006 coup, he is now criticising the Bainimarama regime, including saying yesterday that New Zealand and Australia needed to take a harder line and "use more force to bring this regime down".
 

Mr Key said New Zealand would continue to stay out of the issue between Fiji and Tonga. 

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was considering removing the colonel from the sanctions list.
 

Although the fugitive was clearly no longer part of the regime, the Government had to consider issues such as family links. His brother-in-law is Fiji's President.
 

Fiji's Solicitor-General, Christopher Pryde, said the extradition request was sent yesterday and Fiji had asked Tonga's Prime Minister, Lord Tu'ivakano, to expedite it. He said there was a clear case to answer.
 

Mr Pryde rejected claims Lieutenant Colonel Mara would not be able to get a fair trial in Fiji, saying there was no interference by Government in the courts' decisions.
 

Tonga's Public Enterprises Minister, Clive Edwards, said his Government had not yet seen the detail of the charges so he could not speculate. However, the list of crimes for which Tongan law allowed extradition did not include sedition-related offences.
 

Refusing to allow extradition could be seen as a further snub by Tonga of Fiji.
Pacific commentator Dr Crosbie Walsh - a qualified supporter of Commodore Frank Bainimarama's stated goals for Fiji - said the situation was embarrassing for the commodore but he believed Lieutenant Colonel Mara's actions were personal and the issue would subside quickly.
 

"We all know Fiji is divided ... but I don't really think Tevita can split the military from Bainimarama," he said.
 

- Additional reporting NZPA
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10726308

Second statement comes in to C4.5 from Roko Ului Mara: "I am alleged to have said “This Government is F*** All!”

REGIME CHANGE SHOULD HAPPEN IN FIJI SOON

A Second Statement by Lieutenant Colonel Tevita Uluilakeba Mara

Video Transcript: 

Firstly I would like to thank Commodore Bainimarama for his statement yesterday. Without his help my arrival in Tonga would have been unnoticed by the world’s media. But now it has become global news and people the world over will learn of Bainimarama’s oppression of the Fijian People.

The Commodore has never qualified as a Naval Officer from any Naval Academy so his confusion of two points on the charts which are 100 miles apart, though understandable, bodes ill for the Fijian Navy. 

The Brotherhood of the Sea, in an emergency demands that the saving of life temporarily supersedes bureaucratic considerations of sovereignty. It is exactly under these rules that RNZAF aircraft are permitted often to overfly the waters of South Pacific Islands once an EPERB transmission is received. It is an exemplary and selfless act which is in the highest traditions of the RNZAF. 

Does the Dictator now suggest that, having found shipwrecked victims in future they should now be interrogated by the crew of the rescue craft and put back in the water if they were found to have been critical of the military regime? I can assure you that Kaiyum and Bainimarama will not get far instructing a tough bunch of Kiwis to carry out these inhumanities!

He has accused me of being under investigation for the disappearance of $3m from the Fiji Pine Board. These are the desperate attempts by a mentally and morally bankrupt man to smear the Mara name. There is no truth to the allegations. In fact that money went missing long before I became Chairman of the Fiji Pine Board. And it was under my Chairmanship that the loss was discovered and it was I who made it known to the authorities. All of this is recorded in the minutes of the Fiji Pine Board.

I was charged with using Seditious language. In a conversation to a fellow officer, whilst in Korea last year, I am alleged to have said “This Government is F*** All!” If saying that is sedition then everyone in Fiji, except for Bainimarama and Khaiyum, is also guilty of sedition. 

What he is saying is that anyone who criticizes any aspect of his regime in a private conversation can be reported and charged. That is not the Fiji I know and love, that is more like Nazi Germany and the Gestapo or the Soviet Union and the KGB.

I will come back to Fiji and I will face my fellow Fijians and answer for my part in the 2006 coup. However, I will not come back to face frivolous charges whilst the puppet master, Khaiyum, interferes with the Fiji judiciary on a daily basis. There are no longer fair trials in Fiji. The courts pass verdicts and the sentences dictated by Khaiyum.

I am more than happy to face any attempts for my extradition from Tonga. They have had democratic elections for the first time in November and they have a Government accountable to the people. They have a judiciary free from interference and I am sure that my side of the story will be heard fully and justice will prevail.

I want to give my thanks to the Tongan people for their hospitality and kindness.

Bio-data of Ratu Uluilakeba Mara

Ratu Tevita Kapaiwai Lutunauga Uluilakeba Mara is a Fijian career soldier, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel as of early 2006. On 3rd Feb, 2001 he was named Army Chief of Staff succeeding Colonel Meli Saubulinayau, a close relative of his. 

This position is the fourth highest in the Fijian Military, behind that of the Military Commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff RFMF Brigadier General Mohamed Aziz and the Land Force Commander Brigadier General Pita Driti. Mara held the position for several months, before he was appointed Commanding Officer of the Third Infantry Regiment, a key position in the Fiji Army as he controls the infantry division.

Background

In December 2006 The Republic of Fiji Military Forces took control of Fiji in bloodless coup. The army had a strict plan which was te remove corruption and corrupt politicians and to return to barracks within a year. 

Lieutenant Colonel Tevita Uluilakeba Mara was in charge of the 3 FIR on that day and for the next 4 years.

He witnessed from the inside how power has corrupted the key players in the regime and how now they have forgotten their original objectives as they desperately cling to power. Colonel Mara has left Fiji so that he can speak freely about the need to for regime change in his beloved Fiji.