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Saturday, July 18, 2009
A group of fourteen Freemasons were arrested and held in Fiji on charges of sorcery. The group, which included eight Australians and one New Zealander, was arrested on Tuesday night on Denarau Island. They were held for 24 hours at the police station at Nasudi, but were released by order of Prime Minister of FijiFrank Bainimarama.
The Freemasons had been convening a Masonic meeting, but did not, according to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, have the correct permit. Waisea Tabakau, the police director of operations, told Legend FM News in Fiji that the Freemasons were being investigated for "allegedly practising sorcery", after complaints by villagers.
The New Zealander commented to reporters that his time in police custody had been "wretched", and that the arrests had been the result of "dopey village people".
A spokesman for the ADFAT stated that Fiji police were continuing their investigations.
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This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.