“The violence against journalists in Sweida — including injuries, intimidation, and the ransacking of media offices — along with the attack on a media outlet in Damascus, signals a dangerous escalation in threats to Syria’s press,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Authorities must investigate these incidents and ensure accountability. Journalists should not face violence or obstruction for doing their work.”

Fighting in Sweida governorate began on July 13, 2025, after a Druze merchant was assaulted by Bedouin tribesmen. The confrontation escalated into armed clashes between Druze groups and Bedouin fighters, drawing in Syrian government forces. Israeli airstrikes on July 15 and 16 followed in Sweida and Damascus, with Israel citing the protection of Druze communities. A U.S.-brokered truce temporarily halted fighting, but conditions on the ground remained unstable.

• On July 15, Nadim al-Nabulsi, a reporter for Ahrar Horan, a local media collective, sustained minor injuries while covering events in Sweida after an Israeli drone strike. “I was reporting near the entrance of the city, following a [Syrian government] General Security Forces vehicle on my motorcycle,” al-Nabulsi told CPJ. “The vehicle was hit by drone-dropped explosives. I was around 25 meters (82 feet) behind and tried to hide, but some shrapnel hit my lower back.” He said he was wearing a “Press” vest at the time.

• Also on July 15, freelance journalist Muhannad Abu Zaid was wounded during clashes. He said he was following a General Security Forces convoy into Sweida when gunfire broke out. “I took cover and started filming, but a sniper fired and hit my hand,” he told CPJ. “I think the bullet was meant for my chest, but a car shielded me.”

• On July 16, an Israeli airstrike In Damascus, targeting the Syrian army’s general staff headquarters damaged Al-Hadath TV’s office. According to a video posted by the channel on X, no one was injured.

• On July 19, four journalists wearing “Press” vests — freelance photographer Ali Haj Suleiman, a Getty Images contributor; photographer Bakr Alkasem, who contributes to Agence France-Presse; NoonPost reporter Hamza Abbas; and NoonPost camera operator Qusay Abdulbari — were beside their car in Sweida when it was struck by bullets. “We were covering events in Sweida, entering at the Omran roundabout,” Haj Suleiman told CPJ. “Druze armed factions appeared to counterattack, and gunfire came from three directions. We took cover behind our car as snipers and RPGs fired. After 10 minutes, the shooting stopped.”

• Also on July 19, Karam Nachar, editor-in-chief of the privately owned outlet Al-Jumhuriya, posted that one of the outlet’s journalists, who asked not to be named for his own safety, was robbed and threatened in his home in Sweida by what the journalist said “appeared to be newly recruited members of the ministry of defense.” CPJ spoke with the journalist and confirmed that he is now safe in Damascus. “The four gunmen took $1,600 in cash, my phone, and a camera worth around $2,000,” he said, adding that he managed to escape the raid after another journalist intervened.

CPJ contacted Mohammad Al-Saleh, the Syrian ministry of information’s spokesperson, via messaging app. He said authorities had not blocked journalists from working but warned them that Druze snipers were active in the area, and advised them to evacuate to avoid kidnapping or crossfire. Al-Saleh said the government holds its institutions accountable for any misconduct but currently lacks the means to pursue armed groups operating outside the law — “though that time will come.”

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Soran Rashid.

“The violence against journalists in Sweida — including injuries, intimidation, and the ransacking of media offices — along with the attack on a media outlet in Damascus, signals a dangerous escalation in threats to Syria’s press,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Authorities must investigate these incidents and ensure accountability. Journalists should not face violence or obstruction for doing their work.”

Fighting in Sweida governorate began on July 13, 2025, after a Druze merchant was assaulted by Bedouin tribesmen. The confrontation escalated into armed clashes between Druze groups and Bedouin fighters, drawing in Syrian government forces. Israeli airstrikes on July 15 and 16 followed in Sweida and Damascus, with Israel citing the protection of Druze communities. A U.S.-brokered truce temporarily halted fighting, but conditions on the ground remained unstable.

• On July 15, Nadim al-Nabulsi, a reporter for Ahrar Horan, a local media collective, sustained minor injuries while covering events in Sweida after an Israeli drone strike. “I was reporting near the entrance of the city, following a [Syrian government] General Security Forces vehicle on my motorcycle,” al-Nabulsi told CPJ. “The vehicle was hit by drone-dropped explosives. I was around 25 meters (82 feet) behind and tried to hide, but some shrapnel hit my lower back.” He said he was wearing a “Press” vest at the time.

• Also on July 15, freelance journalist Muhannad Abu Zaid was wounded during clashes. He said he was following a General Security Forces convoy into Sweida when gunfire broke out. “I took cover and started filming, but a sniper fired and hit my hand,” he told CPJ. “I think the bullet was meant for my chest, but a car shielded me.”

• On July 16, an Israeli airstrike In Damascus, targeting the Syrian army’s general staff headquarters damaged Al-Hadath TV’s office. According to a video posted by the channel on X, no one was injured.

• On July 19, four journalists wearing “Press” vests — freelance photographer Ali Haj Suleiman, a Getty Images contributor; photographer Bakr Alkasem, who contributes to Agence France-Presse; NoonPost reporter Hamza Abbas; and NoonPost camera operator Qusay Abdulbari — were beside their car in Sweida when it was struck by bullets. “We were covering events in Sweida, entering at the Omran roundabout,” Haj Suleiman told CPJ. “Druze armed factions appeared to counterattack, and gunfire came from three directions. We took cover behind our car as snipers and RPGs fired. After 10 minutes, the shooting stopped.”

• Also on July 19, Karam Nachar, editor-in-chief of the privately owned outlet Al-Jumhuriya, posted that one of the outlet’s journalists, who asked not to be named for his own safety, was robbed and threatened in his home in Sweida by what the journalist said “appeared to be newly recruited members of the ministry of defense.” CPJ spoke with the journalist and confirmed that he is now safe in Damascus. “The four gunmen took $1,600 in cash, my phone, and a camera worth around $2,000,” he said, adding that he managed to escape the raid after another journalist intervened.

CPJ contacted Mohammad Al-Saleh, the Syrian ministry of information’s spokesperson, via messaging app. He said authorities had not blocked journalists from working but warned them that Druze snipers were active in the area, and advised them to evacuate to avoid kidnapping or crossfire. Al-Saleh said the government holds its institutions accountable for any misconduct but currently lacks the means to pursue armed groups operating outside the law — “though that time will come.”

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Soran Rashid.

“These are not isolated incidents, but systematic attacks by Israel on the media. This disturbing and deliberate pattern must end,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “The killing of journalists in a hospital courtyard on the holy day of Yawm Al-Arafah — preceding Eid al-Adha — underscores the relentless dangers facing the media in Gaza.”

The drone strike on Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital courtyard killed correspondent Suleiman Hajjaj and camera operator Ismail Baddah of Palestine Today TV, a channel affiliated with the Islamic Jihad militant group, and Samir al-Rifai, an administrator for the local, privately owned Shams News Agency.

The Israel Defense Forces said on Telegram that they had “precisely struck an Islamic Jihad terrorist who was operating in a command and control center in the yard of the Al-Ahli Hospital.”

Palestine Today TV described the killings as a “double war crime” for “direct targeting” its journalists and a hospital, both protected under international law.

Palestine Today TV correspondent Emad Daloul was also injured, as well as three journalists with Qatari-funded Al-Araby TV: reporter Islam Badr and camera operators Imam Badr and Ahmed Qulaja.

“The strike happened at around 10:20 a.m. with a single missile fired by an Israeli drone directly at a group of journalists who were sitting in the courtyard, working on their laptops,” Islam Badr, who started filming minutes after his right leg was hit, told CPJ.

“Qulaja was critically injured by shrapnel,” added Islam Badr, brother to Imam Badr.

Al-Mayadeen TV journalist Akram Daloul, a relative of injured Emad Daloul, told CPJ that the correspondent’s condition was serious because he had previously undergone a kidney transplant.

CPJ emailed the Israel Defense Forces’ North America Media Desk to ask if the military was aware of the presence of journalists in the area and if they were deliberately targeted but did not immediately receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

In light of such incidents, “journalists have to be a lot more careful going into this election,” Janefrances Onyinye Nweze, a reporter who covered the 2015 and 2019 national elections in Enugu, told CPJ, emphasizing that the situation there had become “guerilla warfare.” She advised journalists to “disguise as much as possible” by reducing the visibility of press tags and branding on vehicles. “Somebody has to cover the election at the end of the day, but do your best not to put yourself in harm’s way.”

Safety concerns were paramount when CPJ recently spoke to over 50 other journalists and civil society members about the upcoming elections. Interviewees noted that local knowledge was essential for planning how to cover a wide range of potential security threats. Some editors said they would rely on local freelancers to cover difficult areas. Others raised concerns that authorities might disrupt access to communication services or online platforms, as they did previously with Twitter. In recent years, CPJ has documented how security forces, political supporters, and unidentified armed men have attacked, harassed, and denied access to journalists covering Nigerian elections.

As of early February, an election violence tracker compiled by the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project and Nigeria-based Centre for Democracy and Development had identified over 4,000 violent incidents and over 11,000 fatalities across the country since January 2022. Alleged perpetrators included supporters of major political parties, local militias, separatist organizations, and militant extremist groups.

CPJ sent questions to Nigeria’s Ministry of Defence and national police about their plans to ensure journalists’ safety during the elections but received no response. At an event last month, Peter Afunanya, a spokesperson for Nigeria’s Department of State Services, a federal security agency, said that their efforts during the elections were geared toward protecting citizens and that journalists should inform security forces of their needs. He also called for journalism that promoted “national unity.”

Here are the views of nine journalists in Nigeria, reflecting some of their security concerns and how reporters can try to address them. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Yusuf Anka, a freelance journalist who has reported extensively on pervasive banditry in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara state, emphasized the distinct security dynamics in different northern areas.

We have this serious infiltration of armed groups. We have smaller groups, ideological, Islamic, not under the umbrella of Boko Haram [an Islamic militant group based in the northeast]. Some think the problems in [a northeastern city like] Maiduguri and Zamfara are the same. Some think [other northern states like] Sokoto state and Yobe state are the same. In case you’re deploying, you need to understand the differences.

The best way to get proper reportage is the use of stringers or community members because in some areas, although elections will be held, non-indigenous members may not be able to [get] access. There is no airport in Zamfara. The best way to get there is from [neighboring Sokoto state].

Journalists trying to understand the situation could [listen to] private radio [broadcasters] in these hostile areas. Areas close to Zamfara’s south with [a] military presence would be safer. But we’ve seen attacks very close to the police and military. Make careful choices of hotels and drivers. Have one person who is only a call away if you have an emergency. There are more abductions at night than day.

Bunmi Yekini, a producer with the privately owned Radio Now 95.3 FM in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, in the southwest, has covered five elections, including the 2015 and 2019 presidential polls. For this year’s elections, Radio Now will have correspondents in nearly every state.

For the presidency, it will be a bit dicey [in Lagos] because it’s going to be shared [in terms of voter support] basically between the Labour Party, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and APC [the ruling All Progressives Congress party]. There is a possibility of violence between supporters.

Radio Now management has already started providing safety kits. We have pepper spray and the press jacket. There is no news that is greater than your life. Do not be the news. Get emergency numbers of security agencies in the vicinity. Make sure your phone is constantly charged, have a power bank and enough [mobile phone] airtime. A designated car is very important; there will be no commercial vehicles. Get to know the area boys [people who live in the area and know the streets intimately]. They can save the day for you.

Hamza Idris and Suleiman Suleiman, respectively general editor and deputy editor-in-chief of the privately owned Daily Trust newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, as well as Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, who previously worked as the paper’s deputy general editor and left to join the APC campaign, said Daily Trust will have over 100 journalists working to cover the elections across the country.

Idris: The company is holding a series of training [sessions] both online and offline for our reporters on how to cover.

Abdulaziz: Local knowledge helps in terms of safety, but it does not mean that everyone deployed will work in [familiar] places. That is why the training is very important, [as is] collaboration with local partners. Do not be ostentatious, dress in a flashy way, or wear something that is easily identifiable with a group of people, or would mark you as being a stranger.

Suleiman: We have people on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube who are going to be engaging with audiences. Digital safety will be very relevant.

Nuruddeen Abdallah, editor of the privately owned 21st Century Chronicle newspaper based in Abuja, said they will have reporters covering almost all the northern states, as well as major cities in the south. But there are places that he thinks are too dangerous.

I will not be telling [a reporter] to go to Isa town, in [northwestern] Sokoto state; it’s the operational headquarters of [bandit leader] Turji. In [northwestern] Kebbi state, I will not ask [a reporter] to go to the Birnin Yauri area where girls were abducted. Take [north-central] Kaduna state, for example, I will not be sending my reporter to Birnin Gwari town area. In [north-central] Niger state, I will not be sending [them] to Kagara, Mashegu, or Shiroro areas; but they can operate in Minna, Suleja, Lavun, Bida. Another bad place is Maru in Zamfara state. That is where [bandit leader] Ali Kachala [operates].

Agba Jalingo is the publisher of the privately owned CrossRiverWatch news website based in Calabar, the capital of Nigeria’s southern Cross River state.

It’s risky to carry a visible camera. Rely on small gadgets that you can put on your body.

[Remember] there is no public transport on election day.

The level of violence in Calabar South is very high. Don’t identify yourself as a journalist [there]. If you’re [slightly more north] in Calabar Municipality, you can brandish yourself as a journalist and still be safe.

Rukaiya Ahmed is deputy head of news with the privately owned Radio Ndarason Internationale broadcaster, which in Nigeria covers the eastern states of Adamawa, Yobe, Taraba, and Borno. She is based in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.

We have contact with the INEC [electoral commission] office, with the hope of them giving us kits [including press identification] that will help us conduct [reporting] without hindrance from security operatives. The top officials should make them [officers] know that journalists are part of the society and have to report the happenings. Military and security operatives should not stop journalists.

Musikilu Mojeed, editor-in-chief and chief operating officer with the Abuja-based privately owned Premium Times news site, which covers elections across the country. In addition to armed groups and criminals in various areas, he expressed concern about the conduct of the authorities toward the press.

We hope that the police and military will be fair and neutral, and will allow journalists to move around and do their job as necessary.

We make use of [security] analysis done by CLEEN Foundation, [a Nigeria-based NGO promoting public safety and accessible justice]. Covering an election in this country can be like going to the war front.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Jonathan Rozen.

Fiji’s Court of Appeal has ruled that the Russian luxury yacht Amadea, seized by the US government but docked in western Fiji, will stay in the country for at least another month.

Defence lawyers acting for the vessel’s registered owners, Millemarin Investment Limited, sought a stay order in the Fiji Court of Appeal after High Court judge Justice Deepthi Amaratunga refused their application.

Haniff and Tuitoga had sought a stay order on his Tuesday ruling to grant Fijian authorities the power to enforce a US Justice Department (DOJ) warrant to seize the Amadea.

• READ MORE: Graham Davis: Behind the saga of the ‘seized’ Russian super yacht Amadea
• Other Amadea super yacht reports

The Amadea, which arrived in Fiji on April 12 after an 18-day crossing from Mexico, is according to the US government owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.

Kerimov faces money laundering charges in the US and is also part of a wider network of oligarchs, close associates of the Russian President Vladimir Putin who are sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

“The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Kerimov as part of a group of Russian oligarchs who profit from the Russian government through corruption and its malign activity around the globe, including the occupation of Crimea,” the Department of Justice said in a statement issued Thursday morning in Washington DC.

“According to court documents, Kerimov owned the Amadea after his designation. Additionally, Kerimov and those acting on his behalf and for his benefit caused US dollar transactions to be routed through US financial institutions for the support and maintenance of the Amadea.”

US police boarded boat
On Thursday, Fijian police with US law enforcement who have been in the country since the Amadea arrived in Fiji from Mexico, boarded the yacht.

Justice Amaratunga told the court on Friday afternoon the Fiji Mutual Assistance Act, which facilitated the enforcement of US seizure action, limited his ability to stay his earlier order.

Haniff and Tuitoga lawyers received their stay on Friday evening, keeping the Amadea in Lautoka while they take the 30 days allowed to appeal the ruling to execute US seizure orders.

Meanwhile, the boat has a team of US marshals, the US Coast Guard, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and Fiji police.

The skipper and some crew are believed to still be on the vessel.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

The United States government can now remove the US$325 million luxury yacht Amadea, owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, currently docked in Fiji.

A Fiji High Court judge refused an application to stay his earlier ruling to allow the enforcement of a US Justice Department warrant to seize the luxury vessel which has been docked in the western port of Lautoka for almost a month.

Justice Deepthi Amaratunga told the court the Mutual Assistance Act which facilitated the enforcement of US seizure action limited his ability to stay the earlier order.

• READ MORE: US govt seizes oligarch’s superyacht anchored in Fiji
• Fiji seizes Russian oligarch’s $300m yacht at US request
• Other Amadea super yacht reports

US officials based at the embassy in Fiji were expected to make an announcement with the Fiji police force later today explaining action taken overnight on Thursday and plans to sail the Amadea out of Fiji.

Fiji police boarded and seized the vessel yesterday and handed the property to US marshals and representatives from the Coast Guard, FBI and maritime authorities.

The Department of Justice announced today the vessel had been placed in the possession of the US Marshals’ Service.

Suleiman Kerimov, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, is not believed to be on board the vessel.

RNZ Pacific correspondent Lice Movono reported from Suva earlier today that Fijian police with US law enforcement, who had been in the country since the Amadea arrived in Fiji from Mexico, boarded the yacht yesterday.

“The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Kerimov as part of a group of Russian oligarchs who profit from the Russian government through corruption and its malign activity around the globe, including the occupation of Crimea,” a US Department of Justice statement said.

“According to court documents, Kerimov owned the Amadea after his designation. Additionally, Kerimov and those acting on his behalf and for his benefit caused US dollar transactions to be routed through US financial institutions for the support and maintenance of the Amadea.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

If you’re as confused as most people by the exact circumstances surrounding the continuing presence in Fiji of the Russian super yacht Amadea, join the club. Here’s our modest attempt to cut through the fog.

Twelve days ago — on April 14 — the CJ Patel Fiji Sun newspaper trumpeted an exclusive with Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qilihio, reporting that the Amadea had been seized. It had not. In fact, it still hasn’t been formally seized.

What happened last week is that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) obtained a restraining order from the High Court to prevent the Amadea from leaving Fiji. Until that order was granted, there was every possibility in the intervening period of the vessel leaving.

• READ MORE: Other Amadea reports on Asia Pacific Report

In fact, lawyers for the owners were arguing that there was no legal justification to detain the Amadea any longer after they had reportedly paid an amount in fines for customs infringements.

It was only when the High Court granted the restraining order that leaving was no longer a legal option.

Indeed, all along there has been a suspicion that the vessel might try to make a run for it. It has a significant armoury and the security forces would have already factored in their ability to prevent a determined attempt to leave.

This application was lodged by the Office of the DPP on a warrant issued by the United States government. The papers are from Washington DC and passed through the Attorney-General’s Office before carriage of the matter was given to the DPP under the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act.

A second case
Now there is a second case that has been brought before the High Court for the Amadea to be seized. Yes, taken from the owners altogether in line with the American-led sanctions that have been imposed on the nautical playthings and other toys of Russian oligarchs and Vladimir Putin’s cronies the world over.

The High Court will hand down its judgment next Tuesday (May 3), which is expected to be in Washington’s favour.

And sometime after that, the Amadea will presumably become the property of the US government and sail off into the sunset under the command of Uncle Sam in the direction of the US.

It has been an astonishing saga. The original, mostly European crew, had orders to sail from the Mexican port of Mazanillo across the entire Pacific to the Russian port of Vladivosok via Lautoka, where the Amadea has been refuelled and resupplied.

Their services have evidently been terminated and an entirely Russian crew has been on standby to take over when it finally gets permission to sail. Alas for them, their journey to Fiji will have been in vain.

Incredibly, there is still doubt about the vessel’s true ownership. The whole world has been told that it belongs to the Russian oligarch, Suleiman Kerimov, but there is still evidently no conclusive proof — the vessel’s ownership evidently buried in a labyrinth of multiple shelf companies in places like the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.

For the purposes of the High Court case in Suva, the owner is officially stated as being Millemarin Investment Limited. Is it Suleiman Kerimov?

No evidence about Kerimov
Millemarin Investment’s local lawyer, Feizal Hannif, told the court there was no evidence that it is. He said the vessel’s beneficial owner was in fact one Eduard Khudaynatov. But counsel for the DPP, Jayneeta Prasad, argued that the ownership of the vessel was not an issue. It was subject to a US warrant and the ownership issue was for the American courts to decide.

So fortunately unravelling all of this is not Fiji’s problem. But what was Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho doing 12 days ago telling the Fiji Sun that the Amadea had been seized when we won’t know that for certain until next Tuesday, nearly three weeks after the Sun “scoop”?

And is there going to be any attempt to set the official record straight?

Australian-Fijian journalist Graham Davis publishes the blog Grubsheet Feejee on Fiji affairs. Republished with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

If you’re as confused as most people by the exact circumstances surrounding the continuing presence in Fiji of the Russian super yacht Amadea, join the club. Here’s our modest attempt to cut through the fog.

Twelve days ago — on April 14 — the CJ Patel Fiji Sun newspaper trumpeted an exclusive with Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qilihio, reporting that the Amadea had been seized. It had not. In fact, it still hasn’t been formally seized.

What happened last week is that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) obtained a restraining order from the High Court to prevent the Amadea from leaving Fiji. Until that order was granted, there was every possibility in the intervening period of the vessel leaving.

• READ MORE: Other Amadea reports on Asia Pacific Report

In fact, lawyers for the owners were arguing that there was no legal justification to detain the Amadea any longer after they had reportedly paid an amount in fines for customs infringements.

It was only when the High Court granted the restraining order that leaving was no longer a legal option.

Indeed, all along there has been a suspicion that the vessel might try to make a run for it. It has a significant armoury and the security forces would have already factored in their ability to prevent a determined attempt to leave.

This application was lodged by the Office of the DPP on a warrant issued by the United States government. The papers are from Washington DC and passed through the Attorney-General’s Office before carriage of the matter was given to the DPP under the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act.

A second case
Now there is a second case that has been brought before the High Court for the Amadea to be seized. Yes, taken from the owners altogether in line with the American-led sanctions that have been imposed on the nautical playthings and other toys of Russian oligarchs and Vladimir Putin’s cronies the world over.

The High Court will hand down its judgment next Tuesday (May 3), which is expected to be in Washington’s favour.

And sometime after that, the Amadea will presumably become the property of the US government and sail off into the sunset under the command of Uncle Sam in the direction of the US.

It has been an astonishing saga. The original, mostly European crew, had orders to sail from the Mexican port of Mazanillo across the entire Pacific to the Russian port of Vladivosok via Lautoka, where the Amadea has been refuelled and resupplied.

Their services have evidently been terminated and an entirely Russian crew has been on standby to take over when it finally gets permission to sail. Alas for them, their journey to Fiji will have been in vain.

Incredibly, there is still doubt about the vessel’s true ownership. The whole world has been told that it belongs to the Russian oligarch, Suleiman Kerimov, but there is still evidently no conclusive proof — the vessel’s ownership evidently buried in a labyrinth of multiple shelf companies in places like the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.

For the purposes of the High Court case in Suva, the owner is officially stated as being Millemarin Investment Limited. Is it Suleiman Kerimov?

No evidence about Kerimov
Millemarin Investment’s local lawyer, Feizal Hannif, told the court there was no evidence that it is. He said the vessel’s beneficial owner was in fact one Eduard Khudaynatov. But counsel for the DPP, Jayneeta Prasad, argued that the ownership of the vessel was not an issue. It was subject to a US warrant and the ownership issue was for the American courts to decide.

So fortunately unravelling all of this is not Fiji’s problem. But what was Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho doing 12 days ago telling the Fiji Sun that the Amadea had been seized when we won’t know that for certain until next Tuesday, nearly three weeks after the Sun “scoop”?

And is there going to be any attempt to set the official record straight?

Australian-Fijian journalist Graham Davis publishes the blog Grubsheet Feejee on Fiji affairs. Republished with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.