The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has condemned the seizure of a mobile phone belonging to one of its affiliated journalists by Fiji Police, raising concerns over press freedom in the country.
Investigative reporting fellow Meri Radinibaravi was called into the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Suva after posting — and later deleting — a Facebook comment referencing alleged corruption within the force.
According to Radinibaravi, police contacted her on Wednesday and initially proposed sending a squad car to her home, which she described as intimidating. She instead attended the CID office voluntarily.
At the station, a cybercrime unit officer questioned her and requested a written statement. After completing and signing the statement, she was informed her phone would be confiscated for digital forensic analysis.
Radinibaravi said she initially refused but eventually felt compelled to hand over the device, believing the move could be linked to her ongoing reporting into alleged corruption and organised crime within the police and military.
OCCRP said the incident comes at a tense time, as Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka considers a possible state of emergency amid rising drug trafficking and organised crime, alongside a high-profile investigation into the death of a suspect in military custody.
OCCRP Editor-in-Chief Miranda Patrucic strongly criticised the police action.
“Calling a journalist into a police station and forcing her to surrender her phone is an unacceptable attack on press freedom and independent media in Fiji,” she said.
“It is designed to harass the journalist and is a brazen attempt to target her sources.”
Patrucic called for the immediate return of the device and assurances that no data had been accessed.
“We demand the immediate return of her equipment and a guarantee that no data has been accessed or compromised,” she added.
OCCRP Fiji Police and Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu did not respond to queries.
