Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary for Justice Mr Christopher Pryde has confirmed that an application for the extradition of Ratu Tevita Mara from Tonga to Fiji has been sent this morning (17.5.11) from the Fiji Attorney-General to the Prime Minister of Tonga.

“The Tongan Extradition Act states that it is the (Tongan) Prime Minister that has the authority to proceed on a case of extradition and so the request has been made to the Tongan Prime Minister,” he said.

“All documentation required under the Tongan Extradition Act, as amended, has been supplied to the Tongan authorities and we look forward to this case being expedited,” he said.

In response to claims by Ratu Mara that he would not receive a fair hearing in the courts of Fiji, Mr Pryde stated that:

“There is a clear case for him to answer and Ratu Mara can be confident that he will receive a fair hearing in Fiji. After all, it was the very judiciary that he claims is corrupt that gave him bail.

From time to time, different people, including overseas media, make claims that the courts in Fiji are being interfered with however, no one is able to ever give any specific examples of this. Indeed, they cannot because they are not. If the courts were being interfered with, the Government, and its related agencies, would win every case, it does not.

I would urge these people to read the judgments of the courts which are public documents.”

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