An official complaint has been received by the Media Industry Development Authority (MIDA) regarding remarks made by radio personalities on air relating to the incident at Naria, Rakiraki.

MIDA chairman Ashwin Raj yesterday confirmed receiving the complaint.

“Pursuant to the requirements set out in the Media Industry Development Decree, MIDA will seek an official response from the media organisation as well as review the full transcript of this segment,” Mr Raj said.

Comments flowed on social media yesterday regarding the alleged remarks made by the radio personalities from Communications Fiji Limited’s (CFL) Radio Navtarang during their 5pm to 6pm segment.

They were reported to be talking about the alleged murder of late Simran Lata and the man who was apprehended for allegedly trying to steal her ashes after cremation from the cemetery.

CFL managing director William Parkinson said statements on social media were incorrect and they had the recording of the show to prove it.

“The Facebook posts are an ugly attempt to defame Navtarang and exploit this terrible tragedy,” Mr Parkinson said.

“The personalities concerned merely condemned the stealing of the ashes as any right thinking person would. Any suggestion that any other form of comment was made will be met with a vigorous legal response.”

Meanwhile Mr Raj has urged the media fraternity to uphold the Media Code of Ethics at all times.

“Friendly radio segments do not give them the licence to drop all semblances of decorum and respectability and descend into an exchange that diminishes the reputation, privacy, dignity, rights and freedoms of others,” he said.

“This is why the Bill of Rights of our Constitution, under Section 17 Subsection 3 explicitly affirms justifiable limitations to freedom of speech, expression thought and opinion and Subsection 3(b) in particular states that a law may limit or authorise the limitation of these rights in the interests of ‘the protection or maintenance of the reputation, privacy, dignity rights or freedoms of other persons.”

Mr Raj said the Fijian media needed to exercise greater sensitivity when reporting on violence and must use the media to educate the public about structural violence, engage the community into discussions about how to address violence rather than normalising violence by making it a subject of ridicule.

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