The Fiji Labour Party has rejected the Electoral Commission’s dismissal of the FLP’s complaints of alleged harassment by police of attendees at a party campaign in Korovutu last month.
In a statement, party leader Mahendra Chaudhry said judging from his experience in the lead-up to every election since 2014, police have used tactics to scare and harass supporters at opposition campaign meetings.
“It was just plain harassment. There was no complainant, as far as we know. No one has been charged. “So on what basis did the CID officers go around questioning our supporters and provisional candidates?
“It is clear from the very puerile nature of the questions asked: Who paid for the grog? Who gave the food? Who set up the lights etc that this was pure harassment.”
Mr Chaudhry said he wished to know what justification the police gave for asking such questions.
“Does (the Electoral Commission) want us to accept that the police have a right to harass people attending or hosting political meetings?” Police have not responded to queries about Mr Chaudhry’s harassment claim.
