WARNING ON HATE SPEECH
Qiliho: People who spread hatred will face the full brunt of the law Ashraf Ali, 61, confirmed third Fijian dead
Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho yesterday gave a stern warning against hate speech. He said Police were closely monitoring people who advocated hate on social media and they would face the full brunt of the law. He made his remarks as a third Fijian was confirmed dead after being shot in the terror attack at two Christchurch mosques in New Zealand last Friday. Brigadier-General Qiliho’s remarks also came after it was revealed that British Police arrested four people in three separate incidents who referenced the Christchurch terror attacks as part of malicious comments and racial abuse.
All three allegedly referenced the Christchurch shootings. Separately, a man from the Oldham area — also near Manchester — was arrested for malicious communications referencing the attacks and was released on bail pending further inquiries.
A family friend, Zaheer Ali, confirmed from Christchurch last night that Ashraf Ali, 61, was the third Fijian killed in the mosque
shootings. The other two were Pesh Imam Hafiz Musa Patel and Ashraf Razak. The late Mr Ali lived in New Zealand for the past 17 years. His body was one of the last to be retrieved from the Al Noor Mosque. Zaheer Ali said Mr Ali’s body was yet to be released to his family. Once pathologists had conducted their post-mortem examination and re- port prepared, Mr Ali’s body would be released and his death would be registered formally as a victim of the terror attacks.
In Suva, Commissioner Qiliho said they were identifying and watching people who had been posting comments vilifying the Muslim community after the Christchurch shootings and they may arrest people in relation to it.
He said Fiji did not have a place for people who believed in and spread hate on a community and degraded any religion.
He warned that people would face the full brunt of the law if they engaged in behaviour which encouraged vilification of any group in Fiji. He said officers were also keeping a close watch on Nasaibitu Village in Wainibuka, Tailevu, where a man was stopped from building a place of worship. “The Deputy Police Commissioner has visited the Wainibuka disputing parties and there are underlying issues therein that are not religious in nature that is causing the dispute,” Commissioner Qiliho said.