Source: Radio New Zealand
Jone Vakarisi was heard screaming and begging, according to his sister. Supplied
Jone Vakarisi was heard screaming and begging before he was “brutalised to death” in Fiji military custody last week, according to his sister.
Melehola Tagaga told Pacific Waves that the well known drug pusher was asked if he was planning a coup, before the military arrested him at home and took him to the Queen Elizabeth Barracks for questioning last Thursday.
The Fiji Police Force classified the 37-year-old’s death as murder following a high-level meeting in Suva involving the Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and security and military chiefs on Monday.
“An investigation is underway with the support of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander, as earlier stated, so it will be thoroughly conducted,” police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said.
Vakarasi had become somewhat notorious in the capital, linked to turf wars and engaging in violence with law enforcement in recent years.
Local media outlets have described him as a local “drug lord” who was “involved in criminal networks”.
Jone Vakarisi was linked to turf wars and engaging in violence with law enforcement in recent years. Supplied
Fiji’s top military and police brass were on Bau Island farewelling the late President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau when news broke of his death last Friday.
His death certificate, dated 18 April, lists asphyxia, aspiration of gastric contents, severe traumatic head injuries and blunt force trauma to both the head and chest as the causes of his death.
The Republic of Fiji Military (RFMF) commander Ro Jone Kalouniwai initially attributed the victim’s death to a “sudden and severe medical emergency” and “the presence of a pre-existing condition”.
However, he issued a second statement on Monday to correct the record, saying “the earlier description did not fully reflect the medical findings now available”.
Victim begged for his life
Melehola Tagaga claimed that people living close to the military barracks in Nabua, near Suva, told the family they heard Vakarisi “yelling and screaming” for hours before he died.
“My brother was saying “oi lei, au via bula”, meaning “hey, I want to be alive,” and that is all they heard, all through the night,” she said.
Tagaga, 50, an entrepreneur in Sacramento, California, said his home was raided first by the police, then later by the military.
Both were looking for weapons and drugs, but nothing was found, then “disappointed” they questioned him about a possible coup.
“A family member that was there heard the term coup … they asked if he heard or had a plan or knew of someone that was plotting another coup. And he said he had nothing to do with it and he didn’t know anything about it,” Tagaga said.
She described the father of four as an “entrepreneur”, a “family man” but admitted he had previous “gang-related” convictions involving violence.
Jone Vakarisi with his children. Supplied
“What do you expect from the kind of society that we live in in Fiji … people were becoming more territorial, so if you felt threatened, wouldn’t you do something to make sure your family and friends are safe? (from rival territories and authorities).
She said the family were demanding justice and an independent, fully transparent investigation into the death, claiming the military and the police were “in cohoots” with each other.
“With the the wrongdoing, we want accountability, regardless of what the allegations are (against Vakarisi). We still don’t have a clear explanation of what happened to him. “
“His life probably didnt matter to them (the military) but it mattered to us … he had a past with the law but that didn’t give them the right to kill him. A person’s life in custody should be protected,” she said.
Lawyer says death ‘extra-judicial’
Rajendra Chaudhry, a lawyer and the son of former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, told Pacific Waves the death was an extrajudicial killing.
“I find it highly alarming that there was an attempt to cover it up, which is clearly unacceptable … the commander ought to have known about that. So the (initial) statement that was released under his name was misleading to say the least,” Chaudhry said.
He said it was not a simple communication oversight, it was a serious coverup that was exposed only after the death certificate was made public.
“I am quite disgusted to see comments on social media supporting the military because Vakarisi was a drug peddler, the military must respect the rule of law. He should have been handed over to the police for questioning and processing,” Chaudhry said.
“They (the police) should take charge of the investigation and deal with it independently, they should not act in collaboration with the military because the military is being investigated, it doesn’t make sense.”
While he had confidence in the police commissioner, Rusiate Tudravu, he said the military “leans on” section 131 of the Constitution, which states that that the military is responsible for the over all security of the country.
“That provision is a license to act extra-constitutionally and must be read together with emergency provisions, where the military is required to act in safeguarding Fiji in the national interest, it should not have a say in domestic or governance matters, which is the role of the police and the government of the day.”
A Fiji military spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Dr Eroni Duaibe, said it would be inappropriate to comment while a police investigation was underway.
Jone Vakarisi, back-middle, with his family. Supplied
Human rights abuses
The Fiji NGO Coalition on Human Rights (NGOCHR) echoed Chaudhry’s views, adding that Fijians are too frightened to question what the military does.
NGOCHR chair Shamima Ali called for a transparent, independent investigation into the human rights abuses involved in the murder
Aman Ravindra-Singh, a Fijian human rights lawyer who is in exile in Australia, equated asphyxia with strangulation.
Ravindra-Singh fled from Fiji in 2022 to avoid jail for contempt of court following a series of Facebook posts critical of the then-Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama and the former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
“In my personal view, based on other similar deaths in custody matters that I have looked at in the past, these injuries are consistent with torture, where a person is brutally beaten repeatedly to the head and chest, resulting in death,” he said.
In an exclusive interview with Mai TV’s The Brunch talkshow, Vakarisi’s ex-wife Kuini Osbourne rejected claims that he was involved in illegal drug and gun-related activities, as widely reported in local media.
She said following Vakarisi’s post-mortem, the pathologist explained to her his cause of death.
“He choked on his [own] blood and fluid that came up and [the doctor] explained that it was like strangulation.”
The pathologist said due to the severe trauma to Vakarisi’s head and chest he had internal bleeding from broken ribs, “he choked when the blood and fluids came up. He couldn’t vomit it or spit it out,” she said.
Meanwhile, Fiji police declined to say what Vakarisi’s previous convictions were.
“We will respond on policing issues, matters arising out of jurisdictional matters, such as convictions, is not for us to comment on,” Naisoro said
“We will not be commenting on anything other than the investigation, so as not to jeopardise the process,” she said.
Vakarisi’s older sister Tagaga said both their father and uncles had served in the military.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
