A verdict is due today in Suva in the sedition trial against the Fiji Times newspaper.
Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
The newspaper, its publisher, two editors and an external letter writer have been on trial in the High Court over an allegedly seditious opinion piece published in the Times' Nai Lalakai newspaper two years ago.
The charges were filed following a government complaint that the op-ed promoted inter-religious ill-will and hostility in the country by linking Muslims with historic crimes.
As well as the letter writer, Josaia Waqabaca, those charged include the publisher of the Fiji Times, Hank Arts, the newspaper's editor-in-chief Fred Wesley, and the editor of the weekly paper, Anare Ravula.
Each of the accused faces up to seven years in prison if convicted and the Fiji Times company, which has also been charged, could face a large fine.