On 17 March 2000, Fiji Islands news media reported that the country’s president is seeking a court injunction to try to stop the sale and distribution of a book by the leader of Fiji’s 1987 military coups, Sitiveni Rabuka. President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara was opposition leader in parliament at the time of the first […]
On 17 March 2000, Fiji Islands news media reported that the country’s president is seeking a court injunction to try to stop the sale and distribution of a book by the leader of Fiji’s 1987 military coups, Sitiveni Rabuka. President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara was opposition leader in parliament at the time of the first coup, following the defeat of his government in general elections. In the book “Rabuka of Fiji”, Rabuka states that he personally informed Mara of his ideas beforehand. The coups followed civil unrest after the defeat of a government led by Mara – prime minister since independence from Britain in 1970 – and the election of a government dominated by parliamentarians from Fiji’s Indian population. Mara, an indigenous Fijian high chief, has always denied having any prior knowledge of the coup.
“The Fiji Times” reported that Mara’s lawyers filed a writ in the High Court in Suva seeking to stop the sale of Rabukaâs biography and seeking damages for libel. The writ cites Rabuka, biographer John Sharpham and Central Queensland University Press, the publishers. Mara is seeking an injunction to prevent the three defendants or their agents from publishing, distributing, selling or exposing for sale the book of the authorised biography of Major-General Rabuka.
The writ claims Rabuka had always publicly claimed he acted on his own, whereas the book falsely and maliciously states that Mara was involved in the planning of the coups. Furthermore, the writ alleges that parts of the book are libelous and put Mara in public ridicule, odium and contempt.
Both Rabuka and Central Queensland University said they will fight any legal action. The university has an international campus in Suva, the Fiji Islands capital. Central Queensland University Vice-Chancellor Professor Lauchlan Chipman said: “This is a scholarly work of international significance. The issue of whether or not General Rabuka discussed the coup in advance with Ratu Mara is a matter of great public interest, not only for the peoples of Fiji, but for the international community.” He said biographer Sharpham tried to get comments from Mara but the president’s secretary had advised that it was not appropriate given Mara’s role as president.
