TRhe Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho, Shamima Ali and the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, Ashwin Raj

The Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission is urging the FWCC to lodge a complaint against certain Police officers.

This comes after the Commissioner, Ashwin Raj and the Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho had a discussion this morning regarding certain police officers who allegedly called Shamima Ali five times over two weeks enquiring about the nature of her discussions with the UN Secretary General.

Raj is urging Ali to lodge an official complaint with the Internal Affairs Unit of the Fiji Police Force.

He adds while these allegations have only surfaced today in The Fiji Times, the Police Commissioner has expressed concern that this was not brought to his attention by Ali considering that calls were allegedly made over the course of two weeks.

However, only published on the occasion of the UN Secretary General’s scheduled visit.

The Commissioner has given an undertaking to expeditiously investigate her claims.

The Human Rights Commissioner reiterates that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right which includes the right to express dissenting views including legitimate criticism of Government and its policies within the permissible bounds of the law.