Radio New Zealand International, August 7, 2007 About 14 striking
nurses in Fiji led by their union general secretary Kuini Lutua have
been arrested by police and soldiers for protesting outside the cabinet
office in Suva. The nurses arrived outside the venue where the cabinet
was meeting and held up placards when police and soldiers rounded them
up and told them to board a police bus. Earlier in the day, the interim
prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama had warned that Mrs Lutua
had been misleading her members by saying that such protests were
legal. Commodore Bainimarama said anyone assembling in protest would be
breaching the Public Order Act and would be arrested by the police. The
nurses have been on strike for a second week in a bid to have their pay
cuts reversed. The interim administration has ruled out giving in to
the strikers’ demands. © Radio New Zealand International