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Issue No: 1019; 16 August 2001
A leader of a drug ring was shot to death yesterday by a soldier in the team which went to uproot marijuana plants. The 37-year old villager, Amani Koroiduadua, was shot after he tried to snatch away a rifle carried by the soldier. The incident occurred in the interior of Viti Levu. Last week a police raid netted over $1.7m worth of marijuana ready for the market. Yesterday the police team went to uproot plants still on the farms. The police stated that the villagers threatened the police team and their leader tried to snatch away the gun. Snatching guns from soldiers had become a favourite pastime of ethnic Fijian supporters of the terrorists during the hostage crisis last year. Neither the military nor the ethnic Fijian institutions had managed to control this cancer of flagrant disrespect for authority and law. This is the second shooting of a civilian by soldiers during
the past year. The first shooting occurred last year in Labasa where soldiers
shot an agitated villager threatening others with a spear. The villager was shot
in the legs. |
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People's Coalition Government - Fiji Islands |
