ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mesake Waqa has confirmed that two suspects have been identified in investigations on member of Parliament Lynda Tabuya’s explicit video which went viral on social media in late December 2024.
The video was leaked to various groups on Facebook in December and also sent to Ms Tabuya’s senior male counterparts in The People’s Alliance Party (PA).
While the confirmation by Mr Waqa came more than a month after the complaint was made the wheel of justice is slowly turning for Ms Tabuya and a bigger question still exists.
Are there more efforts needed in bringing justice and providing support to victims of cybercrimes and cyberbullying in Fiji?
Because even though she did not leak the video, Ms Tabuya not only lost her ministerial portfolio as Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, but she also faced public ridicule for something that was not of her doing or intention.
Circumstances, initial reactions and dismissal
The video first appeared on social media platforms on December 24, 2024.
While it is unknown how it reached the public domain, Editor of Fiji Leaks site Victor Lal posted on his platform that he had received a copy of the video from “an anonymous Santa Claus”.
“Unlike our revelation through our own text messages in Room 233 at Windsor Hotel in Melbourne, we adopted a different tactic and sent the viral video to Tabuya, (Prime Minister) Sitiveni Rabuka, (Attorney-General) Graham Leung, (Minister for Justice) Siromi Turaga, and (Fiji Women Crisis Center coordinator) Shamima Ali,” Mr Lal said on his post.
“We also copied in (deputy Prime Minister) Manoa Kamikamica, a co-chair with Tabuya on the Coalition’s Anti-Porn Taskforce.”
Mr Rabuka wrote to Ms Tabuya that same day, requesting for an explanation from her.
On December 26, Ms Tabuya was dismissed by PM Rabuka from her ministerial position as he exercised his powers under section 95(3)(a) of the 2013 Constitution.
“This is not a decision I have taken lightly, but one that is necessary in the best interest of the people that we serve,” Mr Rabuka said.
On December 27, Ms Tabuya lodged a complaint at the Totogo Police Station in Suva.
This was confirmed to the media by ACP Operations Livai Driu who said that the matter was being investigated by the Fiji Police Force Cybercrime Unit.
An announcement was also made that day by PA party general secretary Sila Balawa stating that disciplinary actions will be initiated against Ms Tabuya “as per the party constitution” as the incident has brought disrepute to the party.
On December 30, Mr Balawa made it known to the media that the party’s management committee (PMC) has been given 21 days to decide and report back to the party executives on the matter.
However, the verdict came five days early on February 4 and Ms Tabuya was cleared by the People’s Executive Committee to remain in the party.
Reactions and interpretation of dismissal
The leak sparked a range of reactions from the public, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and political figures.
Reactions from the public varied and most took to social media to call on Government to have Ms Tabuya completely expelled from Fiji’s political arena.
There were fake Facebook accounts that continuously shared screenshots of the video on platforms like Chat (Fiji) and other public groups.
She was also called names and ridiculed on these platforms.
But there were others who claim that there has been “an open war” against her from when she first started her political career until now.
Dialogue Fiji executive director Nilesh Lal took to social media and expressed his disappointment in PM Rabuka’s decision to dismiss her,
“She is being punished twice,” he said.
“First was by the gross violation of her privacy and now by this dismissal from her ministerial position.”
On his Facebook page, former Social Democratic Leadership Party (SODELPA) youth president Peter Waqavonovono echoed the same sentiments shared by Mr Lal towards her dismissal.
“What he did to Lynda is a mistake!” he stated.
However, the reactions from politicians were a total contrast.
Fiji Labour Party (FLP) leader Mahendra Chaudhry said in a statement that Ms Tabuya should have been referred immediately to the Parliament Privileges Committee for her expulsion from the House.
He said she should “definitely not” be allowed to remain a MP.
Adi Sivia Qoro, the Commerce Minister in the multiparty cabinet of former prime minister Laisenia Qarase, said for Ms Tabuya to play victim “is pathetic and downright insulting to any right-thinking person and to our intelligence, let alone women”.
“Through her actions and utterances, she has further undermined public trust and confidence in the Coalition Government,” she said.
“Enough is enough!”
The party
As the onslaught against Ms Tabuya continued, silence from The People’s Alliance camp became deafening.
To my knowledge, not once has the party called for an investigation into how Mr Victor Lal got his hands on the video before circulating it to the senior MPs.
Ms Tabuya amassed the second highest number of votes in PA during the 2022 General Election with 11,965 votes. She was second to PM Rabuka who received 77,748 votes while sitting in third place was Multi Ethnics Minister Charan Jeath Singh with 5616 votes.
Yet the lack of support shown to Ms Tabuya from the party that she helped put in power with her votes did not go unnoticed.
Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) co-ordinator and prominent women’s advocate Shamima Ali told ABC News that the controversy highlighted “double standards against women”.
“Our male leaders have got away with a lot of stuff, but we’re told it’s a private affair.
“But when it comes to women, they are judged for what they do in the bedroom even if it may be consensual.”
She told another media organisation that this wouldn’t be the end of Ms Tabuya’s political career because “she is clever, popular and has money”.
The Fiji Times had door-stopped Mr Balawa after a PMC meeting on January 27 to ask if the party had made any efforts to ascertain how the video got leaked.
“In regard to the leaking of the video, we really have nothing to say. We have no evidence either way, whether she did (leaked it) or did not,” he replied.
“As for her removal from Cabinet, the party’s position has always been that it is the sole prerogative of the Prime Minister as per the Constitution of the country.
“And the Prime Minister, as party leader, he can rest assured that the party stands behind him in doing his work as the Prime Minister.”
On February 4, party executives made it known in a statement to the media that Ms Tabuya will remain a member of PA after completion of their internal disciplinary hearings.
“After due process, the party has determined that the video was not intentionally published or released by Mrs Tabuya, and she did not intend to cause disrepute to the party.
“However, the fact remains that public figures like parliamentarians should understand that their private lives will be subject to public scrutiny.
“As such, public figures and national leaders must always be mindful of this and take extra care to avoid such situations as has happened in this case.”
Nowhere in the statement was a sympathy offered to Ms Tabuya for the public humiliation and personal suffering she had endured, along with her family, in the past month.
Instead, Ms Tabuya was made to look like she was the culprit in this story as she “expressed deep regret for what has taken place” while at the same time apologising “in writing to the party and its members”.
“Hon Tabuya maintains that the malicious distribution of the video was a deliberate attempt to discredit the party.
“She has apologised in writing to the party and its members and has undertaken to safeguard against the repeat of such incidents.
“Therefore, in the spirit of forgiveness, reconciliation and second chances, it has been agreed that Hon. Tabuya will remain an MP.”
The statement also said that they’re aware of the report Ms Tabuya had filed with police and that it “trusts that the police will be able to resolve the issue in due course”.
