Non-Subscriber Extract
Fiji extends emergency and courts China
12 June 2009
The PER permits the government to prohibit meetings and censor the media, and the government has made use of both of these functions since the abrogation of the constitution in April.
Earlier this month, the annual conference of the Fiji Methodist Church was cancelled on the grounds that there were "political" items on the agenda. Similarly, a planned meeting of accountants has been repeatedly targeted by the police, who have threatened to revoke the meeting's permit.
These events are indicative of a wider suppression of perceived dissent within Fiji's civil society.