Fiji files an Extradition Order on Ratu Tevita Mara [1]
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 - 18:02. Updated on Monday, September 9, 2013 - 18:40.
AN application by the Fiji government for the extradition of Lieutenant Colonel Ratu Tevita Mara back to Fiji to face a sedition charge was received by the Tongan government yesterday, May 23, Busby Kautoke, Tonga's Chief Secretary and the Secretary to Cabinet confirmed this afternoon, May 24.
Busby said that the application is still with the Prime Minister's Office, but it will be handed over to the Solicitor General and the Crown Law Department tomorrow to be processed.
The arrival of Ratu Tevita in Tonga on Friday, May 13 on board the VOEA Savea has sparked off an exchanges of views among Fijians, Tongans, and Samoans about the situation in Fiji.
Commodore Bainimarama had declared Ratu Tevita Mara a fugitive, and wanted him extradite back to Fiji to stand trial for sedition, and that he jumped bail.
Bainimarama also lashed out that Tonga breached Fijian Sovereignty, when the Tongan navy extracted Ratu Tevita from within Fiji's territorial waters, one nautical mile north west of Cape Washington in Kadavu, and not from the south of Ono-i-Lau island, as it was claimed by the Tongan Navy.
In response to Commodore Bainimarama's furor, the Tongan Prime Minister, Lord Tu'ivakano pointed out that Tonga has proper procedures and obligations governing applications for Extradition Orders "and that no obstacle would be placed before the Fijian Government's Representatives in Tonga's courts.
"The dignity of Tongan Justice is preserved through Judicial Restraint therefore the discredited indulgence of Judicial Activism which is prevalent in the Courts of some Dominions and Republics is an affront to our Constitution," Lord Tu'ivakano stated.