3 Aug 2011

Fiji court extends warrant on runaway colonel

3:19 pm on 3 August 2011

The warrant for former Fiji army colonel Ratu Tevita Mara has been extended by the Suva Magistrates Court.

The matter was called before Chief Magistrate Usaia Ratuvili who extended the warrant to December 21.

Colonel Mara, who had been sedition charges, fled Fiji in May aboard a Tonga navy vessel, facing sedition charges.

Fiji Live reports that the office of Director of Public Prosecutions sent extradition papers to the Tongan government which rejected them, but granted Col Mara a Tonga passport.

Further extradition papers were then sent to Australia and New Zealand to which the two countries have yet to respond.