Fiji police have detained a number of prominent opposition figures after they attended a meeting to discuss the country’s 2013 constitution, an opposition party official says.

Trade Unionist Attar Singh and opposition National Federation Party (NFP) leader Professor Biman Prasad were taken in for questioning, NFP member of parliament Prem Singh told the ABC.

“It goes against the grain as far as freedom of assembly and freedom of association is concerned,” he said.

“I think this is intimidating and it’s not good for our democracy.”

In a statement, the Sodelpa opposition party said its leader Sitiveni Rabuka, a former prime minister, had turned himself in to police.

Fiji Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho told the ABC he would not respond to questions.

‘Alarming signs’ for democracy in Fiji

The ABC spoke to Professor Prasad on Saturday morning before he was detained, and he confirmed that police had come by his house looking for him and were expected to return.

“This has come to me as a big surprise because we believe it was a meeting organised by an NGO on an important national issue and political leaders, including those from the government, were invited to be part of it,” he said.

The meeting was held to coincide with Fiji’s first public holiday for Constitution Day — a day which Professor Prasad had criticised as a “meaningless exercise” when he spoke to ABC’s Pacific Beat on Tuesday.

“It’s a waste of Government resources and a waste of time and a loss to the economy, because there is nothing much to celebrate out of the 2013 constitution which was imposed against the will of the people of this country,” he said.

International concern over detentions

Amnesty International’s Kate Schuetze condemned the reports of the arrests, saying it was not clear how the detained men might have breached the country’s public order laws.

“If true, we are very concerned that these arrests signify a further crackdown on freedom of expression for people peacefully exercising their rights to hold meetings,” she told the ABC.

“If you can’t have an open conversation about constitutions on Constitution Day and talk about the direction of the country, that is an alarming sign that things aren’t all as they seem in Fiji and we’re still not at a level where rights are being respected in the country.”

Professor Prasad’s wife, Rajni Chand Prasad, told Reuters police had searched their house looking for documents and that police also searched his office and took away a laptop computer.

Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama came to power in a bloodless military coup in 2006.

The 2013 constitution was drawn up by the military regime after it scrapped a draft prepared by a constitutional committee after widespread public consultations.

Mr Bainimarama stood down from the military to run as a civilian in the country’s 2014 elections, winning by a landslide.

– ABC