Rabuka: Group must be scrutinised

THE activities of members and particularly leaders of the Grace Road Church group must be scrutinised from Fiji’s jurisdiction point of view, says Opposition Leader Sitiveni Rabuka.

He said this was to ascertain if any was “culpable or illegal”.

Mr Rabuka made the comments after Government released a statement on Saturday night, saying that certain matters relating to the Grace Road Church were currently being handled by the Ministry of Employment and police, and due process must be allowed to take its course without the interference of Government.

“Governments have treaties that bind them to bilateral and multilateral agreements and understanding in relation to national and international law and the treatment of expatriate criminals in a national jurisdiction or in their home jurisdictions,” Mr Rabuka said.

He said the current police investigation on allegations made by some former members of the group needed to be very carefully handled by Fiji authorities

“One year is not unreasonable as there could have been international liaison among the law-enforcement agencies.”

Al Jazeera’s 101 East program released a documentary titled, Escaping Korea’s Pacific Cult on November 14 depicting the alleged abuse Grace Road Church believers in Fiji went through.

The video also featured a short footage apparently showing the church’s convicted leader, Shin Ok-ju allegedly making negative remarks against the Fijian people.

Mr Rabuka said he would not comment on it because the ‘footage’ needed to be authenticated first.

Meanwhile, questions sent via electronic mail and repeated phone calls made to the Grace Road Group public relations manager Grace Park and GRG public relations officer Ana Choi Grace Park yesterday remained unanswered.

Questions also sent via electronic mail to Al Jazeera’s 101 East program producer Jenni Henderson yesterday remained unanswered.