KEY POINTS:
The treason charges against 10 people arrested in Fiji have been dropped.
Ten of 16 people arrested had been charged with treason over an alleged plan to kill self appointed Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama and other leaders.
Fiji Sun editor Russell Hunter said news that the treason charges
had been dropped came after a very tense meeting between officials yesterday.
However, he said the 10 accused are still facing the very serious charges of incitement to mutiny and conspiracy to murder. There will be a bail hearing today.
Two New Zealanders detained by Fijian police during the latest crackdown are yet to be charged and continue to be denied diplomatic contact.
Among them is New Zealander Ballu Khan, who was last night still in hospital after being allegedly beaten by the military and police.
The second New Zealand citizen detained was named today as Sivaniolo Naulago.
Mr Naulago, a Fijian Indian and naturalised New Zealander, is a business associate of Mr Khan, Radio New Zealand reported today.
Prime Minister Helen Clark revealed yesterday that a second New Zealander had also been detained on Saturday and assaulted. His family had come forward to alert High Commission staff.
New Zealand diplomats were denied access to him yesterday, though it was hoped it would be granted this morning. Diplomats saw Mr Khan on Sunday, but further efforts have been blocked.
Fiji Police Commissioner Esala Teleni has claimed no knowledge of a second New Zealander having been arrested.
In the Suva Magistrate's Court yesterday, a stand-off occurred between the police and the Director of Public Prosecutions' Office when several of the people charged tried to appear.
"The police are laying charges without referring these to the DPP," said Mr Khan's lawyer, Tevita Fa, who is also representing one of the people charged.
"There are certain offences, like murder, where the sanction of the DPP is required before you can press charges. I look forward to making submission on that."
At a press conference yesterday Commodore Bainimarama declared the assassination plot had failed and he was "happy to be alive".
New Zealand and Australia were not involved in the plot, nor had they ever been implicated, he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Fa told the Herald he would apply for a writ of habeas corpus today to have Mr Khan moved to New Zealand for better medical treatment.
"Police will not be able to charge him, or interview him, until he is well."
He saw Mr Khan in hospital yesterday and said his condition had improved. "But that man needs overseas medical treatment as early as possible. We talked a bit tonight, but he went into unconsciousness from time to time. There's too much pressure on his head.
"He has a broken jaw and he still is not able to eat food. They are pumping something into his system to allow him to keep going."
Mr Khan, who had political affiliations with ousted prime minister Laisenia Qarase's party, was likely to face similar conspiracy charges like the others, he said.
A spokesman for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Mr Khan had contacted the New Zealand High Commission in the days after the military coup last December.
"A lot of New Zealanders were ringing at that time and he was concerned about whether the military was going to be rounding up figures," the spokesman said.
Mr Khan's partner, Agnes Bulatiko, said they were "getting harassed by the military".
- with NEWSTALK ZB
