March 20, 2008

By Michael Field

Fiji's military dictator has warned the country's news media not to call him any more on his cell phone. 

And as Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama's message went out, the military appointed Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, is demanding the media be fair and balanced. 

The statements came following renewed pressure on the media following claims Finance Minister Mahendra  Chaudhry evaded paying taxes. A government inquiry cleared him but Fiji Sun publisher Russell Hunter was  deported for stories on it, and the Fiji Times was this week warned over similar stories.

In an email to the media today, Fiji's Department of Information says that "all media queries to the Prime Minister  should be directed to the Department of Information," the statement said. 

"Please do not make calls directly to the PM on his cell phone." 

They provided a new phone number for prime ministerial media calls. If the call was over his role as military  chief, another number was given.

Meanwhile Sayed-Khaiyum issued a statement calling on the media to be fair and balanced in its reporting. 

He said the military government "does not want the media to be favouring anyone, it is imperative that the media  declares its interest if it does take a political stance. 

"If a media organisation wants to be a pro-political party or point of view, that's their prerogative but they need to  tell the public that that is their position," he said. 

He said he was raising concerns over a series of opinion pieces he believed the Fiji Times was planning to run over  a period of time.

Copyright: Michael Field