Fiji: hunting the critics

Since the coup, the Fijian military's intimidation of the media has effectively silenced criticism. According to the Fijian Media Council, reporters no longer "feel safe to write and publish reports that correctly reflected the true situation in Fiji". As a result, Fijians have been turning to the internet for news of the regime's activities and abuses.

One of the key sites for reporting these abuses is Intelligentsiya. An anonymous blog run an unknown group of dissidents, it has broken several major news stories about beatings and murder by the regime, as well as supplied commentary on the legality of its actions and links to repots by human rights agencies. Now the military is hunting for them, accusing them of "portraying a negative image of the Interim Government" - which is apparently a crime in the New Fiji.

All we can do is hope they've covered their tracks well enough and that the military doesn't find them. Meanwhile, it really does seem to be getting like China over there...