The spokesperson for a Fiji non-government organisation says the interim government must ease pressure on the media to ensure the constitution consultations work properly.
Several NGOs say the process is being undermined by the continuing media constraints.
The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre’s Shamima Ali says there is self-censorship and journalists need to show more spine but she says it is common knowledge the media operates under pressure from the regime.
She says if the government takes offence at coverage of a story there are immediate phone calls to the offending journalist.
“So we are getting regular reports of that, so that needs to be removed. The state, when it talks about a free environment people should not fear then it should start acting in that way also, to remove that fear from reporters and journalists.”
Shamima Ali.
The NGOs says the interim regime’s non-negotiable principles and its demand for immunity must go if the consultations are to succeed.
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