MEMBERS of the public have been assured that the Parliament secretariat has nothing to hide when it comes to the video of Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama allegedly manhandling suspended Opposition MP Pio Tikoduadua on August 9.
The assurance comes after acting secretary-general to Parliament Viniana Namosimalua confirmed to this newspaper that the video footage taken by one of her staff members with the Parliament camera was similar to the one released on social media a few weeks ago.
“I need to put this straight because people are insinuating that we are hiding something, we are not,” she said.
“The only one that is provided to me is going to be the one for this department and that is the one that is going to be given to police when they start with investigations.”
Mrs Namosimalua said they were still waiting for police to retrieve a copy of the video after Mr Tikoduadua lodged a police report at Totogo Police Station on the day the incident happened.
Mrs Namonsimalua said former staffer, Iliesa Raiduduva, had admitted that he allegedly leaked the video.
However, she said it was uncertain as to who Mr Raiduduva released the video to.
On August 9, Mrs Namosimalua said she had demanded that a copy of the video be handed to her in case police proceeded with investigations.
She also advised her senior staff to ensure that no one else in the secretariat had the copy of the video. On September 6, Mr Raiduduva was forced to resign for allegedly releasing the video.
