Rusieli Mua could not hold back tears yesterday when she posed the question: “Who ordered them to be taken away and isolated on Nukulau Island?”.
Ms Mua asked the question during public consultations on the draft legal framework to establish the Fiji Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Lautoka yesterday.
Ms Mua said her brother-in-law, former military officer and former head of the disbanded Fiji Intelligence Services Metuisela Mua, was taken away and beaten by soldiers in 2007 during the interim term of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama.
“The question is for the families who were victims, those that were taken in for questioning. We need closure,” she said.
“Was it necessary for them to be taken away and isolated on Nukulau Island?
“Who ordered this and why was violence necessary for all of these men?
“They could have been taken nicely and put away.
“We need answers and who will answer this question?.”
International Centre for Transitional Justice senior expert Ruben Carranza, who is part of the team conducting the public consultations, acknowledged Ms Mua for saying it out loud.
“Thank you for saying aloud in an official setting means that the Government is ready to hear.
“We acknowledge the strength and bravery to come forward and say.”
In March 2010, Mua and seven others were sentenced by the High Court to various jail terms for conspiring to assassinate Bainimarama and other senior government members in 2007.
Mua, passed away two years ago.
