A regional media watchdog, the Pacific Freedom Forum, says Fiji's interim Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, has lost credibility by making delusional claims that Fiji has a free media.
Mr Sayed Khaiyum reportedly told a regional journalism seminar at the University of the South Pacific last week that Fiji's media is free to report on any issue.
He claimed journalists face no restrictions and that they are not told what to write.
But he admitted in the same seminar that controls are placed on the media to stop them reporting on political issues.
The chair of the PPF, Susuve Laumaea, says the fact his monologue went unchallenged by the audience only proves self-censorship is thriving under the interim regime's public emergency regulations.
He says Mr Sayed Khaiyum's claim is clearly delusional and out of touch with reality.
