12 Jan 2010

Fiji stops pension for government critics

9:02 pm on 12 January 2010

Fiji says it has stopped paying pensions to people who speak out against the government.

Prime minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who seized power in a coup in 2006, told Radio Fiji the government passed a decree to that effect last week.

It is not known how many pensioners are affected by the cut.

Commodore Bainimarama says he had hoped all citizens would work together to create a new Fiji, but many are still voicing their opposition to the government, including pensioners.