The Pacific Islands News Association has strongly condemned the action of the Interim Government on its self righteous path in continuing to target the Fiji Media by deporting Fiji Times Publisher Rex Gardner.

PINA president Joseph Ealedona said the move is the latest crackdown on the media in Fiji since military commander Frank Bainimarama seized power in a bloodless coup in December 2006, and comes amid growing international criticism of the slow progress in returning the country to democratic rule.

He adds the deportation of Gardner shows that Bainimarama continues to ignore his promise of upholding media freedom, and the blatant attack on the Fourth Estate chips away at the tenets of the freedom of the media in Fiji, which will hinder every effort to return the country to normalcy.

Ealedona said the deportation is sending a very dangerous signal throughout the country and to the international community. He is calling on Commodore Bainimarama to look at the media as an important tool to the nation building.