Fiji's Police Commissioner has refused to put any further pressure on the country's Department of Public Prosecutions, after confirming a number of long-standing police brutality investigations have been handed over.
Fiji Police Commissioner Ben Groenewald Photo: RNZI/ Sally Round
Last week Major General Ben Groenewald said he hoped the DPP would make a prompt decision on the case of alleged police beatings of escaped prison inmates, caught on video and shared online in 2012.
He said he would be pleased if a decision was made before he attended a UN anti-brutality meeting in Costa Rica at the end of this month.
Ben Groenewald says other matters are also with the DPP including the alleged police beating of a taxi driver in Cakaudrove earlier this year, but he has to respect the process.
"Keep in mind that he is the Director of Public Prosecutions, he oversees all prosecutions in Fiji and I will never put pressure on him to make a decision. I respect his independence, however I do have an open communication line with him but I will not pressure him to make decisions out of the ordinary."