Monday, May 21, 2018, went by in a flash!
It was business as usual at the newsroom along Butt St, Suva.
In the din of the evening traffic, as I made my way home that night after work, I was calm.
The weekend had also gone by, with family.
Just those very close to me, with a few phone calls made to members of the team, to Hank Arts, the Fiji Times general manager, our chairman Kirit Patel, company director Rajesh Patel and to our lawyers.
Mostly, it was for reassurance I suppose.
The three assessors had returned with a unanimous not guilty opinion in the Fiji Times sedition trial the previous Friday.
They had found all of us – Hank, me, Nai Lalakai editor Anare Ravula and letter writer Josaia Waqabaca – not guilty on the charges of publishing, or aiding or abetting publication of, a “seditious article” in our vernacular language paper, Nai Lalakai.
They had also decided that our company, Fiji Times Pte Ltd, was not guilty.
High Court judge Justice Thushara Rajasinghe was set to deliver his judgment the following day, Tuesday, May 22.
Under the law his decision, not the assessors, was the final one.
If he found any of us guilty, it was likely that we would face jail time.
It was at least possible that this might happen immediately.
There was a fair bit of scepticism hanging over the final verdict, I suppose, and fears that the assessors’ verdict would not be followed.
So it was with that in mind that I arrived home, dug into dinner – and slept quite well.
Being in court since 2016 had had a profound impact on my life.
It had changed the way I thought about prison life, about life in general and about destiny.
And that wasn’t the only case I’d faced in court.
I had just come off a contempt of court case where I had received a two-year suspended jail sentence.
The Court had decided, despite our strong defence to the contrary, that a story in The Fiji Times sports pages had brought the judiciary into disrepute.
So, in a sense, it was about accepting my role in the bigger scheme of things, and the important connection back to the dissemination of information.
I woke up on Tuesday, May 22, calm.
It wasn’t so much about being brave, but I suppose it was about accepting my fate that day.
The months in court had been tough, especially if you are expected to remain composed in the newsroom, and in front of everyone else.
That was tough, trying to put on a face of confidence in stressful circumstances, daily!
I remember wondering what my wife was up to as she went about preparing herself.
I remember asking.
Her response: “I want to be there for you! I need to be there!”
I remembered saying: “Please no! The last thing I want is for your face to be plastered all over the news if I should be sentenced to jail.”
So it was with a sense of purpose that I packed my little black bag, with toothpaste, shaving gear, some medicines, a change of underwear, and my toothbrush.
We said a little prayer, seeking guidance from the Higher One, asking for courage to face my fate, I kissed my family goodbye, got into my trusty Subaru, and drove off.
I did not want to look back, but just remember their faces.
The minutes turned into hours.
I remember sitting in the dock that morning.
Certainly not something I had ever envisaged in my life.
I remember standing up for the sentence, and I remember this overwhelming sense of emotion that ran through my mind, and enveloped my whole body when the sentence was announced.
I heard the judge speak.
Acquittal!
Justice Rajasinghe said he agreed with the unanimous not guilty opinion of the three assessors and acquitted us all of sedition charges.
Emotions were high as the judge delivered his judgment in a court room packed with friends and family, journalists, diplomats, activists and lawyers at the High Court in Suva.
Justice Rajasinghe ruled that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the article published in Nai Lalakai two years earlier was seditious, or that it had the tendency to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility among Muslims and non-Muslims.
The rest, as they say, is now history.
“We should now be encouraged to keep going with the way we have been, stay within the law and decency, but report honestly and balanced without fear,” Hank told the media.
“That is what we stand for, that is what we do and we will continue to do that.”
I was overwhelmed and thankful for the support our team had been given over the course of the case.
A walk that usually took us about 10 minutes to make from our newsroom to the High Court took more than half an hour that day.
We were stopped along the way by passersby, people in cars and family and friends to shake a hand or give a hug.
It was overwhelming and I will remember that moment forever.
Never alone
I’d thought we were alone.
But we were never alone!
The packed carpark behind the Fiji Times HQ was a surprise as well wishers came to celebrate the acquittal.
People from all walks of life.
The calls came through from around the world.
The interviews, and I remember one particular call with great fondness, from a village on an outer island, where there was a sigidrigi going on in a hall.
It came over a speaker phone!
I was truly grateful, humbled and overwhelmed by the show of support.
But then reality dawned.
We still had to get out the next day’s edition.
Work must go on.
Motivation
It is this motivation that drives The Fiji Times.
In the years of suppression, when the people of Fiji were expected to accept things the way they were dished out, and consider that normal, there has to be a different take.
One that encapsulates the values that place democracy, freedom of expression, and opinion on a very high plane.
So in essence I was grateful for our legal team, for Richard Naidu, Nicholas Barnes, Ronal Singh, Jon Apted, Wylie Clarke and the other lawyers and their teams.
One of them later confided in me that they had hung onto hope, realising the very real possibility that we could be sentenced to jail, grateful
for our directors, and grateful for family, grateful for the brave men and women who shook my hands in public — when many others feared and stayed away, fearful of being seen with us.
I remember a friend ignoring me at a service station the next day, but as we walked into the station to pay up, he shook my hand, apologising.
“Sorry about that… you know ga! People watching!”
He is a civil servant.
I’d expected that and lived with that over the years.
Ministers stayed away, but were more accommodating away from the public glare.
It is what it is I suppose!
Lifestyle
The events that unfolded that year weren’t the beginning.
They changed the way we could do things in the newsroom.
From the way we delivered news, to the way we published it in the newspaper, and online, things had to be structured in a way that wasn’t
normal.
We had a legal team that went through our copy daily and a subediting team that was second-guessing content because of the draconian MIDA Act.
How could anyone ever guess with certainty what was “against the public interest” or what was “against the national interest”?
Because under the MIDA it was a crime to publish that – whatever it was.
After all everything we printed or published was, as we saw it, of national and public interest.
The fact that we could not afford to miss a byline was a great concern, because any small error like that could cost the company – and me –
thousands of dollars in fines or even jail time.
And we were faced with the harsh reality of businesses being forced to pull their advertisements out of The Fiji Times – because of a directive from the ‘top’.
And there were certainly no Government advertisements.
It wasn’t an environment conducive to the work we were expected to do.
We survived because of the great effort by members of the greater Fiji Times family, from the advertising and marketing team, finance, transport, graphics, the team in production, circulation, IT, our teams in our Western and Northern bureaus, our street sellers, and supporters and readers.
Never again
Laws that suppress information like MIDA must never be allowed again in our country.
We were constantly reminded about this fact by our legal team because of the very real possibility of prosecution every day.
So you are expected to develop a newsroom that clearly understood that heads could be chopped off by someone in power, any day!
And no matter what people said about bravery, courage under fire, and to take the moral high ground, what mattered and should matter under those circumstances, was the dissemination of information, to allow people to make well informed decisions daily, but within the
confines of the law.
And staying relevant, and functioning as a business – whatever that meant!
That placed pressure on our legal team because we weren’t going to just sit around in fear.
People in authority must forever be held to account.
They must forever be transparent and work for the people.
There must be engagement from the people, and it is the people who must make calls that will ensure good governance.
Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad said something the other day during the recent National Economic Summit in Suva.
Governments must accept the bricks and the bouquets.
That means criticism and positive vibes.
It is expected!
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and Deputy PMs Manoa Kamikamica and Viliame Gavoka came off with positive comments.
It is the way to go.
This is democracy, and about the values that must be placed on the way we treat people.
Over the years, strategies had to be considered, and that’s what The Fiji Times fell back on, offering a “complete package” where critical information filtered through our pages, and on all our digital portals, and stimulated discussions.
That was important, and it did not have to only come through the news pages.
It had to be embracing of all sections, from opinions to the open columns, and strategically handled daily.
My meetings daily took on a whole new approach then over the years.
We live and we learn, and we obviously cop criticism.
That’s to be expected.
But how could we explain our strategies under the glare of a draconian piece of legislation?
Media companies should never be put under such suppression again.
The people of Fiji must never be suppressed again.
There has to be vibrant discussion, and engagement in the governance of our nation, for the people and by the people!
People have a right to know the true extent of challenges we face as a nation, Government’s plans and how they as individuals factor into the greater scheme of things.
Reflections
I was attending a workshop at Port Vila when the MIDA was repealed.
I got the message from my team back home in Suva a few minutes after it was repealed.
I remember an overflowing of emotions that morning.
Memories came flooding back.
All the years of fighting for the removal of this Act!
It was overwhelming!
I tried to keep the tears away, but it was truly emotional.
A weight had been removed from my shoulders, and from all those who worked daily to keep me away from jail.
The chief sub-editor, Sanju Prasad, our deputy editor Sakiasi Waqanivavalagi, deputy chief sub-editor Paula Tuvuki, our confident chief of staff Margaret Wise and her deputy Felix Chaudhary, our west bureau chief Anish Chand and north bureau chief Serafina Qalo and their teams, deputy editor Sunday Times/ Features John Kamea, business editor Monika Singh and advertising features editor Verenaisi
Raicola and their teams, sports editor Rodney Duthie, senior photographer Eliki Nukutabu, digital editor Timoci Vula, and all the reporters, and team members in Nai Lalakai, Shanti Dutt and Kaila! editions who worked as a unit daily.
I remembered our GM Christine Lyons and acknowledge her support.
All my bosses who were there guiding me on my journey, from my great friends the late Stan Ritova and Kameli Rakoko, Netani Rika, Sophie Foster, Akanisi Motufaga, Janita Singh; my very dear friends Rex Gardner, Brian O’Flaherty, Dallas Swinstead, Steve McCully and Tony Singh; and I remember former members of staff who have since left the home of The Fiji Times, and acknowledge their efforts.
It was a team effort daily.
And I reflected on that in Vila!
Memories of having to rely heavily on technology and my trusty Subaru came flooding back.
The warnings that were fired over my head in Parliament, the reminders from well-placed friends to be careful every day.
Making simple basic adjustments to stay safe and out of trouble was a challenge that I reflected on.
The need to be connected, and near an urban centre, and the need to be responsive with decisions by the minute or hour daily meant work was 24/7.
And that was tough on the family front.
I am also reminded about those who we expect to uphold the laws of our country, in the police force and in the military.
They have an important role to play in our security, and in upholding democracy.
For many years, when members of our team were harassed, ridiculed, and threatened with assault and sworn at, we had no one to turn to.
It appeared that way when the last bastion of hope for our security were part of the process of intimidation.
I will leave that for individuals to tell their story.
But in the mechanics of how we operated, it factored greatly when important decisions had to be made in the newsroom for the safety of staff and their families, to the extent of taking them into hiding.
I acknowledge men and women of character in both services and in Corrections though for trying to do the right thing, and for being there, in
whatever capacity for us, and for me personally.
You were reassuring in the face of great intimidation.
Post repeal
As I sat at Makuluva beach on Saturday, May 22, taking in the beauty of the wide expense of white sandy beachfront, clear blue waters, and
with a slight easterly, watching the waves making their endless run up the beachfront, I realised it was my first time in a very long time to be away from an urban centre, unconnected, for a whole day.
Now that was a change!
The way forward now is filled with challenges… new ones!
And central to all this is desensitisation of our very young team, and hopefully the people of Fiji.
We needed to tell our stories on this special day for press freedom to ensure that never again should we ever be forced into a corner, where our rights to assemble as citizens of our great nation, and protest, and our right to freedom of expression and opinion are curtailed.
The MIDA hung over us like the Sword of Damocles.
Ready to fall, and always threatening the very foundation of media freedom.
Acknowledgement is due to all stakeholders who were part of the repeal of the MIDA and to all our supporters, our followers, our critics and our friends and family.
I remember my greatest supporter through all this… my late dad Fereti.
He was there for me everyday… he worried about me and made sure I stuck to safety processes throughout the years, always calling before I knocked off work, until his death this year… how I wish he was alive to see the repeal of the Act.
Now we look forward to providing you better service, and to you engaging in the way forward for our nation.
We will also accept the bricks – and the bouquets, if you have them!
