A Fijian military leader has said the government was justified in “stifling criticism” of its policies by the press during the Covid-19 outbreak, prompting warnings that Pacific leaders should not use the coronavirus crisis as an excuse to quell press freedom.

The comments have been condemned by press freedom advocates as the “kind of behaviour [that] is the prerogative of authoritative military dictatorships.”

In a Fiji Sun op-ed last week, Jone Kalouniwai, a brigadier-general in the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF), defended the view that Covid-19 is a good reason to take away the media’s right to question policy decisions.

“[I]n times of such national emergency, our leaders have good reasons to stifle criticism of their policies by curtailing freedom of speech and freedom of the press,” wrote Kalouniwai, who added that the fight against Covid-19, was “likely to end up violating the individual rights and rule of law that are at the heart of any liberal society.”

“[Leaders] are apt to have deep concerns about this enemy within, which have been fuelled by irresponsible citizens selfishly breaking mandatory curfews, social distancing requirements and questioning the rationale of our leader’s decision to impose such restrictions.”

Fiji has had 18 confirmed cases of the virus and the government acted swiftly to contain the spread of Covid-19, imposing lockdowns and curfews, as well as conducting contact-tracing.

“There is absolutely no excuse to use Covid-19 to quash criticism of the government by the media,” says Daniel Bastard, the head of the Asia-Pacific Desk at Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

“It’s totally shocking,” said Bastard, in reaction to the article. “It’s a sad and worrisome reminder of the way the government was considering the press in the post-2006 coup in Fiji.

“This kind of behaviour is the prerogative of authoritative military dictatorships.”

The article was also condemned by opposition MP Biman Prasad, the leader of the National Federation Party, who said “nobody, neither the government, the RFMF nor the police have any justification whatsoever to stifle fundamental rights and freedoms or trample upon the rights of its citizens.”

Concerns about press freedom were also raised in late March after Fiji confirmed its first case of coronavirus in Lautoka, a city on the west coast of the main island. The city was locked down, with police blocking all travel in and out, except for essential services.

The Fiji Times, an independent newspaper that has been sued by the Fiji government for sedition, were blocked from distributing their newspaper to Lautoka, but allowed delivery drivers carrying the Fiji Sun, the Times’ competition, which is seen as more pro-government, to pass through the blockade.

The Fiji police were contacted for comment about why they the Fiji Sun was allowed into Lautoka, but the Fiji Times was blocked.

Concerns were also raised about Vanuatu, whose government declared it illegal for media outlets to publish reports on coronavirus without the approval of government authorities, citing the need to prevent the spread of misinformation about the disease.

“The Vanuatu government’s Orwellian ruling is tantamount to prior censorship,” Bastard said.

“It turns itself into a ‘ministry of Truth’ who could decide what information can be made public and what other information must be hidden from Ni-Vanuatu citizens.”

Dr Shailendra Singh, head of Journalism Programme at the University of the South Pacific, said it was crucial that governments did not intervene in ways that meant: “media lose their independence… the separation of powers is eliminated and media become an arm of the government information ministry.”

He said the media’s role in any crisis was crucial, but the challenge was to provide a factual picture without causing undue fear, stress or panic.

“During a crisis the media and government form a partnership where the public safety is paramount. The exchanges should not degenerate into the kind of acrimony we see between the US media and President Trump, where one-upmanship and point-scoring have become the order of the day.”