Fiji Times forced to sell up

The Australian publisher of the Fiji Times will later this week visit News Ltd executives in Australia to decide on the course of action following the interim Fiji government’s decision to force the sale of the 140-year-old newspaper into local ownership.

Anne Fussell had spoken to staff earlier today, and would be visiting Australia later this week, editor-in-chief Netani Rika told the Indian Weekender today.

Rika did not comment further.

The Fiji Times must sell at least 90 per cent of its shares to local investors within three months or face closure. Fiji media is already under heavy censorship following draconian decrees put in place by the military regime last year.

Two other newspapers, the Fiji Sun, and the Daily Post, are locally owned, with the Fiji government a majority owner of the latter.

Under the Media Industry Development Decree foreign investors can only own up to 10 per cent of any Fiji-based media organization.

The decree introduces financial penalties against journalists and organizations deemed to have breached the legislation.

Meanwhile, the Public Emergency Regulation remains in force for another three months.

Several New Zealand based callers to radio station Newstalk ZB said forcing the sale of the Fiji Times was “the last straw”.

One caller said for long he had harboured some hope for return to normalcy, but now he had twice about investing in such a volatile environment.

Attorney-General in Commodore Frank Bainimarama's regime Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the Fiji Times would face closure if it did not comply with the decree.

"Fiji Times, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd, have been given three months to ensure they comply with the requirements of the media decree or cease operations altogether," Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.

New Zealand Media Freedom Committee secretary Tim Pankhurst told the NZPA the measures were part of a disturbing trend towards dictatorship, and another reason New Zealanders should boycott travelling to Fiji.

"I believe that individuals should take action against them [Fiji's military regime] by not holidaying in Fiji," Mr Pankhurst said.

When the new measures were announced in April, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum described the newspaper as "the purveyor of negativity, at least for the past three years".

Other measures in the decree include establishing a tribunal to ensure nothing is printed or broadcast against the "national interest or public order", said Mr Sayed-Khaiyum.