Do your duty

INVESTIGATE CLAIMS, FORMER ACP TELLS POLICE

DO your duty and investigate the interrogation and abuse claims of the 16-year-old victim.

This is the message from former assistant commissioner of police Ratu Meli Vakarewakobau to the Fiji

Police Force.

He said the primary role of the police was to protect the people.

The former assistant commissioner of police also labelled comments by Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander Viliame Naupoto that he had no idea about the case a “lame excuse”.

A FORMER assistant commissioner of police says the statement of the commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces that he is unaware of the alleged interrogation of a 16-yearold boy by two military men is a “lame excuse”.

In an interview with this newspaper, former ACP Ratu Meli Vakarewakobau said RFMF commander Rear Admiral Viliame Naupoto’s response to queries about the incident did not wash considering his role as the military head.

In an interview with this newspaper on October 1, Rear Admiral Naupoto said he was not aware of the alleged incident because he was away overseas.

He also reassured this newspaper that they would conduct an investigation to ascertain the veracity of the teenager’s claims.

“I will have to get back to my officers on that and to check if there was an investigation,” Rear Admiral Naupoto had said at the time.

Ratu Meli said senior RFMF and Fiji Police Force officers should come clean on who had allegedly given the directive for the teenager to be interrogated.

“The commander (Rear Admiral Naupoto) said he was not aware of what happened, so what is happening?” he said.

“How can he say that he was not aware when he is responsible for everything that happens in his camp?

“The men should be investigated and the police should find out where did the command came from, it seems they (were acting) to protect the Prime Minister, it’s a sign that we are heading in the wrong direction.

“If this happened during my time, we would have made sure we got to the bottom of the issue.

“We would have gone right to the RFMF commander and his superiors and from there we would have tried to ascertain the claims of the teenage boy in order to open an investigation.”

Questions sent to the RFMF on October 15 remain unanswered.