AUCKLAND (The Nation/Pacific Media Watch): Fugitive Fijian military officer Lieutenant-Colonel Tevita Mara says it is getting towards the end for the country’s military ruler, Commodore Frank Bainimarama.
Speaking today on TV3’s The Nation broadcast in New Zealand, Colonel Mara said the commodore knew the people were against him.
“They just want to see a change,” he said.
“I think Fiji at this stage has had enough of all this. “
The interview was recorded last Thursday in Tonga where the colonel was brought by the Tongan Navy. Whether he was “rescued” by the navy or whether he was deliberately plucked from Fiji are now matters being hotly debated.
He himself continues to insist he was rescued after a fishing trip went awry.
Asked why, if he had been rescued, he had decided to stay in Tonga rather than return to Fiji, he said: “I knew it was an opportunity to get out of Fiji.
“You know the repressive things that’s happening in Fiji, what they’ve done to me, I saw it as an opportunity to come out and voice my concerns about the country.”
And he says he believes he has support both from within the military and the Fijian community - particularly the Great Council of Chiefs and the Methodist Church.
“The fear among them is for what the military is doing.
“People all fear the military now
“You know I am a former member of the military, we're sent away on peacekeeping duties to keep the peace in other parts of the world, but yet in our own country we're terrorising our own people,” he said.
Colonel Mara said weapons were being used to terrorise people.
“All sorts of things are done to them, and I guess you know it generates fear among the people.
“But it will get to a stage where people will say you know enough is enough, and we need to stand up.”
Full transcript of The Nation interview
Pacific Media Watch
