Army says blogs pose threat to 'national security'

The military has reserved the right to arbitrarily detain people it suspects of being a "threat to national security" (read bloggers) and has played down the assault of detainees.

Army spokesman Major Neumi Leweni was speaking after the military wrongfully detained Suva businessman Ulaiasi Taoi in relation to blogs critical of the interim government.

Taoi was held for 24 hours at Queen Elizabeth Barracks from Friday afternoon and subjected to bashings, verbal abuses and humiliation. Read his account to the Fiji Times here.

He said up to eight soldiers punched him up in a cell and that he was only in his underwear for most of the time. On Saturday morning, he was asked to remove his underwear and left naked in the cell for several hours, before being released.

Taoi, the president of the Fiji Indigenous Business Council, was questioned over his alleged links to ousted Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and the SDL party.

The army suspected Taoi of being prominent anti-junta and fellow Freedom Blogger Fijian Black who remains safe and free, last we heard.

Taoi will file complaints against the military this week or next to police and the Fiji Human Rights Commission, he says.

You have to wonder about how effective the military's "intelligence unit" is if innocent businessmen are picked up and showered with accusations and punches. Taoi admits to reading the blogs but also admits his IT knowledge doesn't extend to being able to leave a comment on the blogs - let alone maintaining one.

Taoi also told his story to Fiji TV over the weekend, and the story was picked up by the international media.

Dr Roberto Ridolfi and your EU delegation please take note of the continuing blatant breaches of the commitments given to your officials in Brussels.