Fiji coup warning denied

Press, 28 July 1987, Page 6

Fiji coup warning denied

NZPA-AAP Suva The deposed Fijian Prime Minister, Dr Timoci Bavadra, has said he could not recall the former Police Commissioner, Premesh Raman, warning him of the possibility of a military coup before the coup occurred on May 14.

“If I had been told I am sure I would have remembered," Dr Bavadra said through his official spokesman. He had been asked to comment on a report in New Zealand quoting Special Branch sources as

saying Mr Raman had told Dr Bavadra of the coup plans, but that Dr Bavadra had said he believed it could not happen in Fiji. Dr Bavadra said he had consulted regularly with Army and police officers after his election on April 12 about threatened action by Fijian extremists angered by his Indianmajority Government. The “Fiji Sun” yesterday said some senior police officers had had information about the planned coup, but no solid evidence.

The information had been mentioned during discussions between Dr Bavadra arid Mr Raman, the newspaper said. Other sources said the Bavadra Government had made an error in allowing an Army commander, Brigadier Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, to pay an official visit to Western Australia just before the coup. Ratu Epeli’s loyalty was unquestioned, the sources said, and the coup leader, Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka, might not have succeeded if the brigadier had been present.