Fijian PM calls sedition-charged top officer Mara as fugitive

 Fijian Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama here Sunday called a sedition-charged top military officer Lt Colonel Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba Mara as "fugitive" assisted by Tonga.

At a press conference here Sunday, Bainimarama told the nation that Mara, former Third Infantry Regiment (3FIR) Commander Colonel who is facing charges of sedition, is now a fugitive after he was assisted by the Tongan Navy to flee the country a few days ago.

The prime minister announced details of how Mara was assisted by the Tongan authorities who also entered the Fiji waters to pick him up, stressing that the Tongan Navy's claims of answering to a SOS call out at sea is also misleading.

On May 4, Mara and former Land Force Commander Brigadier General Pita Driti, who was also charged with sedition over an alleged plot to remove Military Commander and Prime Minister Bainimarama, appeared at the Suva Magistrates Court for breaching Section 67 of the Crimes Decree.

The two men have been released on bail. Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges and were ordered to be reappeared in court on May 30 and June 1.

Driti was a key player in the 2006 coup in which Bainimarama seized power and was one of his most trusted officers. He was charged with one count each of uttering seditious comments and inciting to mutiny.

Mara, the son of Fiji's former president the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and brother in law of current President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, is also charged with one count of uttering seditious comments under the Crimes Decree.

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