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Lawyers for detained New Zealand citizens in Fiji will fight to get them released today.
Businessman Ballu Khan and an executive in his company Pacific Connex, Sivaniolo Waqa Naulago have both been detained following an alleged plot to assassinate Fiji's military leader Commodore Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama and other senior figures in his government.
Mr Khan's family say he was severely beaten by authorities and High Commission staff visited him for the first time yesterday saying he was in a stable condition in hospital but not ready for release.
Officials hope to be able to see Mr Naulago today.
Lawyer for Mr Khan, Tavita Fa, said his client had told him he had slipped in and out of consciousness and suffered internal pain.
He wanted his client to get medical treatment in New Zealand.
Mr Fa said he would today attempt to get Mr Khan's release through the courts.
"Our law allows the police to interview him but it must be done within 48 hours of arrest. He has been with police since Saturday," he told Radio New Zealand.
Because of his injuries police have not yet interviewed Mr Khan.
Lawyers for Mr Naulago, an executive in Mr Khan's company, Pacific Connex, would also try have him released on bail today.
TV One News showed Mr Naulago last night getting into a police van in Suva. He had a plaster above one eye and was also reported to have been beaten.
Prime Minister Helen Clark announced yesterday that the High Commission visits had been agreed to by Fiji's police commissioner Esala Teleni.
The agreement was for daily visits to Mr Khan while he was in hospital and access to Mr Naulago while in police detention.
Miss Clark said there were limits to the help the Government could offer.
"Apart from being able to go in with messages from family and a change of clothing, there's very little the New Zealand Government can do when its citizens get caught up in the legal proceedings of other countries," she said.
At least 16 men have been arrested since the weekend, all of them alleged to have been involved in an assassination plot.
Ten of them faced a court in Suva yesterday and were ordered to remain behind bars.
They have been charged with conspiring to commit murder and incitement to mutiny.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said he expected Mr Naulago would be denied bail and be transferred to prison. The High Commission would need to seek permission from the head of prisons to see him.
"We've had an assurance the police commissioner (Esala Teleni) will do all he can to assist to see him at that point in time."
Mr Peters told Radio New Zealand it "was not good" that it had been difficult for diplomatic representatives to see the men as it was a right.
The alleged mistreatment of the men also breached their rights. "The right to be treated fairly when you are arrested, to not to be brutalised and to have the matter decided by a court not a group of military people in a preliminary fashion in the treatment of somebody who has been arrested."
He was concerned for Mr Khan's health and said he should be given the chance to get neurological scans and expert treatment.
- NZPA
