National Federation Party MP, Lenora Qereqeretabua says she has been assured by Police that sacked teacher, Kishore Kumar’s allegations against a male Fijian parliamentarian of Indian descent, is also part of the investigation and she does not have to file another complaint.
She says she received the official response from Police at the end of last week.
She says she is now awaiting the outcome of the investigation as the allegation about a parliamentarian involved is also serious.
Kumar has said in a public facebook post that the alleged porn video was given to him by a Fijian of Indian Origin MP to convert to MP4 format. He says once the conversion was done, the same MP allegedly asked him to publish the leaked sex video on Kumar’s social media page and the parliamentarian offered him $75,000 cash in a bag filled with $100 notes.
He also says that he has received death threats from this male parliamentarian that if Kumar ever reveals the MP’s name, he will have his people kill Kumar in a bomb blast.
Kishore Kumar claims the same MP who had a series of conversations with him via phone is now telling Fiji that he does not know Kumar and has no links with him. He says Vodafone can confirm if the Fijian of Indian origin Member of Parliament had links to Kishore Kumar Publications by revealing call records from the database.
Kumar has also said publicly that he cannot publish the name of the Member of Parliament who offered him $75,000 because if he can offer Kumar that much cash to publish a leaked sex video, he can also offer another person cash to assassinate Kumar.
Kumar has also claimed that the same parliamentarian paid him more than $9,000 in cash and food vouchers to put up posts about other political parties and politicians.
Police spokesperson, Ana Naisoro will comment later today.
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National Federation Party MP, Lenora Qereqeretabua is planning to file another Police complaint after sacked teacher, Kishore Kumar made allegations publicly against a male Fijian parliamentarian of Indian descent.
Kumar has said in a public facebook post that the alleged porn video was given to him by a Fijian of Indian Origin MP to convert to MP4 format. He says once the conversion was done, the same MP allegedly asked him to publish the leaked sex video on Kumar’s social media page and the parliamentarian offered him $75,000 cash in a bag filled with $100 notes.
He also says that he has received death threats from this male parliamentarian that if Kumar ever reveals the MP’s name, he will have his people kill Kumar in a bomb blast.
Kishore Kumar claims the same MP who had a series of conversations with him via phone is now telling Fiji that he does not know Kumar and has no links with him. He says Vodafone can confirm if the Fijian of Indian origin Member of Parliament had links to Kishore Kumar Publications by revealing call records from the database.
Kumar has also said publicly that he cannot publish the name of the Member of Parliament who offered him $75,000 because if he can offer Kumar that much cash to publish a leaked sex video, he can also offer another person cash to assassinate Kumar.
Kumar has also claimed that the same parliamentarian paid him more than $9,000 in cash and food vouchers to put up posts about other political parties and politicians.
Police spokesperson, Ana Naisoro says their investigation is focused on elements surrounding the initial complaint lodged against Kumar. She says Kishore Kumar will be questioned again today.
However Qereqeretabua says the investigation should also be conducted against the parliamentarian who is behind the posting of the derogatory posts as alleged by Kishore Kumar.
She will file the complaint by tomorrow.
NFP Leader, Professor Biman Prasad says these are serious allegations, Police can provide protection to Kumar, get the identity of the MP and conduct the full investigation.
The Ministry for Education has terminated the contract of Computer Science Teacher, Kishore Kumar.
Education Minister, Rosy Akbar says Kumar who was teaching at Ratu Sukuna Memorial School, has been sacked for posting derogatory comments on social media against Member of Parliament, Lenora Qereqeretabua.
Akbar has warned that ministry employees found guilty of harassment, victimisation or discrimination as stipulated by section 26(3) of the Constitution, will face termination.
Akbar also emphasises that acts of insubordination are grounds for immediate disciplinary action and termination.
She has also reminded all Ministry employees that the Civil Servants Code of Conduct must at all times be upheld and preserved in a manner that promotes the integrity, impartiality and effectiveness of the Ministry and maintains the public confidence and trust.
The Ministry of Education says it will neither condone nor tolerate any breach of the Civil Servants Code of Conduct.
Akbar says employees engaging in activities that bring disrepute to the nobility of the teaching profession, whether during official working hours or outside of official working hours will face disciplinary action.
Suspended civil servant, Kishore Kumar remains on full pay and no action has been taken against him so far although he has publicly admitted that he was getting paid for putting up political posts to attack politicians.
Kumar also continued to work as a teacher after getting charged in 2018.
He was charged with three counts of criminal trespassing, indecently assaulting a woman and criminal intimidation, and appeared in court in 2018.
Kumar confirms that the case is before the courts.
He was suspended last Monday.
Kumar is a computer science teacher at Ratu Sukuna Memorial School.
Minister for Education, Rosy Akbar says we should now respect the Police and Ministry investigations that are ongoing. We are trying to get her comments on whether any decision has been made.
Kumar has made porn claims through his facebook video posts against NFP parliamentarian, Lenora Qereqeretabua.
Qereqeretabua says she will wait for CID, Ministry of Education and the Online Safety Commission to respond to their complaints against this alleged criminal.
Suspended Computer Science teacher Kishore Kumar has claimed that a parliamentarian paid him more than $9,000 in cash and food vouchers to put up posts about other political parties and politicians.
Kumar also claimed that the same politician had told him that he will pay him $75,000 if he posts the alleged porn video of NFP MP Lenora Qereqeretabua on his Kishore Kumar Publications Facebook page.
When questioned by fijivillage on who is the parliamentarian that is telling him to publicly distribute an alleged porn video and paying him to personally attack other politicians, Kumar said he cannot reveal the person’s name.
When asked if he has revealed the name to Police investigators, Kumar said Police have not asked him that question.
Kumar says the parliamentarian had offered him a large amount of money for making the video public but he did not do it as it is against his religion.
He further says he was used and is now being disowned by the parliamentarian.
Kumar says the evidence that was with him is now with the CID Office and he is waiting for the result of their investigation.
He was taken in and questioned last Tuesday at the CID Headquarters in Suva and was released 48 hours later.
When questioned by fijivillage on whether Police are also looking at the claim that a parliamentarian was behind this, Police spokesperson, Ana Naisoro said the investigation is ongoing.
The Ministry of Education will not make any comments on why suspended civil servant, Kishore Kumar continued to work as a teacher after getting charged in 2018.
Kumar was charged with three counts of criminal trespassing, indecently assaulting a woman and criminal intimidation, and appeared in court in 2018.
He confirms that the case is before the courts.
Kumar was suspended on Monday.
He is a computer science teacher at Ratu Sukuna Memorial School.
We have asked Minister for Education, Rosy Akbar on what is the procedure when a teacher faces criminal charges and why did he continue to teach. Akbar says we should now respect the Police and Ministry investigations that are ongoing.
Kumar has made porn claims through his facebook video posts against NFP parliamentarian, Lenora Qereqeretabua.
Qereqeretabua says she will wait for CID, Ministry of Education and the Online Safety Commission to respond to their complaints against this alleged criminal.
Kumar was released from Police custody yesterday afternoon as he can only be held in custody without charge for 48 hours.
Police say there are other aspects of the investigation that need to be finalised before he is taken into custody again.
The National Federation Party had also released a video earlier this week on their Facebook page from September 2017, where Kumar is shown attending a NFP Rally in Valelevu. In that video, Kumar had claimed that he was the leader of the investigative research intelligence network on social media and he had also claimed that he was the head admin of the FijiFirst Party on social media.
Speaking outside the CID Headquarters, Kumar said that he is the head of admin for the FijiFirst Party which is not related to the ruling FijiFirst.
FijiFirst General Secretary, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says Kishore Kumar who is currently under investigation by Police and the Ministry of Education, is not employed by the FijiFirst.
The National Federation Party had released a video earlier this week on their Facebook page from September 2017, where Kumar is shown attending a NFP Rally in Valelevu. In that video, Kumar had claimed that he was the leader of the investigative research intelligence network on social media and he had also claimed that he was the head admin of the FijiFirst Party on social media.
Speaking outside the CID Headquarters this afternoon, Kumar said that he is the head of admin for the FijiFirst Party which is not related to the ruling FijiFirst.
NFP had released the 2017 rally video after rubbishing Kumar’s claims to Legend FM News that he had done work for the NFP.
Sayed-Khaiyum also said today that Kishore Kumar is not doing any social media work for the FijiFirst.
Sayed-Khaiyum says it is obvious Kumar is a free agent when you look at the comments he has been making on his social media page.
When asked by Fijivillage on how Kumar continued to make political comments on social media for quite some time when he is a civil servant and is bound by the Code of Conduct, Sayed-Khaiyum says they do not have a person tracking civil servants’ comments and posts.
He also says we should not have a trial by media.
Sayed-Khaiyum says many people are claiming anything on social media like the claims allegedly being made by some supporters of SODELPA that Kadavu will be sold to China. He says it would be a bit ridiculous to comment on what people are saying on social media.
He says there is a fine line between being racist, defamatory, slanderous or making factually incorrect comments and there is a lot of fake news on social media. Sayed-Khaiyum says unfortunately some of the media have started relying on comments being made on social media and taking it as the gospel truth and asking the government questions based on that. He says they will not respond to that at all.
The Attorney General says a good media organisation is not going to use social media, in particular comments or opinions by individuals as a source of information that has questions of integrity and credibility.
Kishore Kumar has been released from Police custody this afternoon as he can only be held in custody without charge for 48 hours. Police say there are other aspects of the investigation that need to be finalised before he is taken into custody again.
Suspended computer science teacher, Kishore Kumar has been taken into custody and is being questioned at the CID Headquarters.
Spokesperson, Ana Naisoro says Kumar was taken in last night.
Kumar has been suspended by the Ministry of Education pending investigations after he made several claims of pornography against NFP parliamentarian, Lenora Qereqeretabua on his facebook page, Kishore Kumar Publications.
Qereqeretabua says she filed the Police complaint in August.
National Federation Party Leader, Professor Biman Prasad has rubbished claims by suspended Computer Science Teacher, Kishore Kumar that Kumar was working undercover for the NFP in 2016 and 2017 to gather information on parties and politicians.
Kumar has made claims that this is when he started writing against the Government, the Prime Minister and the Attorney General on Facebook.
He also claimed that the social media team was funded by the Leader of the NFP however he has provided no documentary evidence to back the claim.
Professor Prasad says Kumar had come to the office and attended one of the party meetings in 2018 however he was never paid any money.
The NFP Leader says he may have spoken to Kumar but he cannot remember the discussions between him and Kumar.
Meanwhile, NFP has released a video on their Facebook page from September 2017, where Kumar is shown attending a NFP Rally in Valelevu.
Kumar had claimed that he was the leader of the investigative research intelligence network on social media and he had also claimed that he was the head admin of the FijiFirst on social media.
He had questioned NFP on the Fijian constitution.
We have sent questions to the FijiFirst General Secretary, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum in regards to the claim by Kumar that he was the admin of FijiFirst on social media.
Kumar has been suspended by the Ministry of Education pending investigations after he made several claims of pornography against NFP parliamentarian, Lenora Qereqeretabua on his Facebook page, Kishore Kumar Publications.
Police are still investigating the complaint filed by Qereqeretabua against Kumar. She says she filed the complaint in August.
Computer science teacher at Ratu Sukuna Memorial School, Kishore Kumar has been suspended by the Ministry of Education pending investigations.
Kumar has been behind the Kishore Kumar Publications page on Facebook and has made pornography claims against NFP parliamentarian, Lenora Qereqeretabua.
Minister for Education, Rosy Akbar has today confirmed that Kumar is suspended as the HR Department investigations continue.
Kumar is suspended on full pay.
He had earlier confirmed to us that he is a Year 11 teacher at Ratu Sukuna Memorial School and he is doing his work for the Kishore Kumar Publications during non-official hours.
He also says he is seen as a fatherly figure by all his students.
Meanwhile Akbar has stated that all employees of the Ministry have a duty to conduct themselves at all times, whether in their official capacities or private lives, in a way that the public’s confidence and trust in the integrity, impartiality and effectiveness of the Ministry are preserved and upheld at all times.
Akbar has reminded all teachers that they are civil servants and must at all times uphold the values and abide by the Civil Servants Code of Conduct.
She strongly warns that the Ministry of Education will neither condone nor tolerate any breach of the Civil Servants Code of Conduct.
Akbar says the Ministry has disciplinary measures in place and will institute without hesitation disciplinary action against all officers found in breach of the Civil Servants Code of Conduct.
She says no employee should engage in any activity that brings disrepute to the nobility of the teaching profession, whether in official working hours or outside of official working hours.
The Minister says all employees are to treat all members of society with respect, courtesy and in a fair and equitable manner without harassment, victimisation or discrimination in accordance with section 26(3) of the Constitution.
She also says that all employees must ensure that their conduct in their official capacity and their private life is not to the detriment of any person, group or body and should have due regard and respect for the dignity, rights, duties and proper interests of all others.
Based on this statement, we have asked Akbar what is the Ministry's stand regarding computer science teacher, Kishore Kumar.
Minister for Education Rosy Akbar has released a statement saying all employees of the Ministry have a duty to conduct themselves at all times, whether in their official capacities or private lives, in a way that the public’s confidence and trust in the integrity, impartiality and effectiveness of the Ministry are preserved and upheld at all times.
Akbar has reminded all teachers that they are civil servants and must at all times uphold the values and abide by the Civil Servants Code of Conduct.
She strongly warns that the Ministry of Education will neither condone nor tolerate any breach of the Civil Servants Code of Conduct.
Akbar says the Ministry has disciplinary measures in place and will institute without hesitation disciplinary action against all officers found in breach of the Civil Servants Code of Conduct.
She says no employee should engage in any activity that brings disrepute to the nobility of the teaching profession, whether in official working hours or outside of official working hours.
The Minister says all employees are to treat all members of society with respect, courtesy and in a fair and equitable manner without harassment, victimisation or discrimination in accordance with section 26(3) of the Constitution.
She also says that all employees must ensure that their conduct in their official capacity and their private life is not to the detriment of any person, group or body and should have due regard and respect for the dignity, rights, duties and proper interests of all others.
Based on this statement, we have asked Akbar what is the Ministry's stand regarding computer science teacher, Kishore Kumar.
Kumar has confirmed to us that he is Year 11 teacher at Ratu Sukuna Memorial School and he is doing his work for the Kishore Kumar Publications during non official hours.
He also says he is seen as a fatherly figure by all his students.
Computer Science teacher, Kishore Kumar says he will hand over the evidence he has about NFP Parliamentarian Lenora Qereqeretabua to Police and he will also write to the President Jioji Konrote, Speaker of Parliament Ratu Epeli Nailatikau and the Acting Commissioner of Police Rusiate Tudravu however Qereqeretabua says she is waiting to find out what Police and the Education Ministry are doing about this alleged criminal.
As Kumar continues to make the porn claims against Qereqeretabua, the NFP parliamentarian says a man by the name of Kishore Kumar of Clifton Road, Kalabu was charged with three counts of criminal trespassing, indecently assaulting a woman and criminal intimidation in 2018.
Qereqeretabua says she will wait for CID, Ministry of Education and the Online Safety Commission to respond to their complaints against this alleged criminal.
However Kishore Kumar says he believes no honourable member should be involved in pornography and he has video evidence.
He also claims that a Member of the Opposition came to him when Suva was on a lockdown and handed him a video tape which he had to convert to MP4.
Kumar says the reason why the video had to be converted is because Qereqeretabua had cursed the members of the FijiFirst and their children, and Kumar says he is related to some members of the FijiFirst so he was included in the curse.
The teacher says he has a investigative research intelligence network team that are connected to all political parties in Fiji.
The civil servant also questioned Qereqeretabua why it took them three months to file a report to the Ministry of Education as she filed a report against him to Police in August.
He says this is not the first time he has been investigated but he is standing his ground that whatever he is investigating is of great concern to the people.
Kumar questioned the women’s human rights groups why they did not speak out when the Government was trying to remove former Minister for Lands Ashneel Sudhakar for sexual harassment allegations.
We have asked Police on the status of the investigation against Kumar after Qereqeretabua filed the complaint in August. We have also asked Police about Kumar's other charges and the status of that case in 2018.
Spokesperson, Ana Naisoro will provide an update after speaking to the CID.
We have also asked the Minister for Education, Rosy Akbar. She has said that the Human Resources Department is investigating the complaint. No further comments have been made.
Meanwhile, women’s human rights groups have stated that they are disgusted and appalled at the misogynistic attacks made by Kishore Kumar on social media against female members of Parliament and strongly condemn this act of violence and cyber-bullying.
The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre, femLINKpacific and the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement are calling for investigations from the relevant authorities, including the Fiji Police Force, the Human Rights and Anti Discrimination Commission and the Online Safety Commission.
Crisis Centre Coordinator, Shamima Ali says the Online Safety Commission should not sit silently when these crimes continue to happen almost on a daily basis. Ali says raising awareness about cyberbullying is one thing, but the enforcement of the law is equally important.
Ali says the silence is deafening from women MPs from both sides of the House.
She says this is when solidarity is important.
The women’s groups say the social media commentator on his Facebook page, Kishore Kumar Publications, has made several public videos vilifying and defaming female members of parliament.
They say the public posts contain abusive and sexually derogatory remarks against certain women members of parliament.
The groups call for urgent action to condemn all forms of violence and discrimination against women and address the disturbing series of attacks from Kumar.
Shamima Ali says this is often how men discourage, deter and malign younger women and women in all their diversities from political participation and national discussions at all levels. Ali says such comments on an open public platform are not only detrimental for women but pose great risks to their safety and national participation.
She says this is a great example of cyberbullying, harassment and hate speech.
femLINKpacific Executive Director, Susan Naisara Grey says this repeated and targeted acts of psychological violence including character attacks, cyberbullying and harassment, on Lenora Qereqeretabua and other female members of Parliament, must also be condemned by all parties and the State, with further action to be taken.
Grey says they condemn the violence, which includes all forms of aggression, coercion and intimidation against women as political actors, which is one of the most serious hurdles to women’s full and equal political participation.
FWRM Executive Director Nalini Singh says there must be no impunity for violence against women, including within the cyber and virtual space.
Singh says it is unacceptable that Kishore Kumar is allowed to continue making targeted sexist attacks that are discriminatory, abusive and defamatory against women and there have been no repercussions for his action.
She says there must be better standards set by the Ministry of Education for educators as they play such a significant role for young people and children.
Women’s human rights groups have stated that they are disgusted and appalled at the misogynistic attacks made by Kishore Kumar on social media against female members of Parliament and strongly condemn this act of violence and cyber-bullying.
The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre, femLINKpacific and the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement are calling for investigations from the relevant authorities, including the Fiji Police Force, the Human Rights and Anti Discrimination Commission and the Online Safety Commission.
Crisis Centre Coordinator, Shamima Ali says the Online Safety Commission should not sit silently when these crimes continue to happen almost on a daily basis. Ali says raising awareness about cyberbullying is one thing, but the enforcement of the law is equally important.
Ali says the silence is deafening from women MPs from both sides of the House.
She says this is when solidarity is important.
The women’s groups say the social media commentator on his Facebook page, Kishore Kumar Publications, has made several public videos vilifying and defaming female members of parliament.
They say the public posts contain abusive and sexually derogatory remarks against certain women members of parliament.
The groups call for urgent action to condemn all forms of violence and discrimination against women and address the disturbing series of attacks from Kumar.
Shamima Ali says this is often how men discourage, deter and malign younger women and women in all their diversities from political participation and national discussions at all levels.
Ali says such comments on an open public platform are not only detrimental for women but pose great risks to their safety and national participation.
She says this is a great example of cyberbullying, harassment and hate speech.
femLINKpacific Executive Director, Susan Naisara Grey says this repeated and targeted acts of psychological violence including character attacks, cyberbullying and harassment, on Lenora Qereqeretabua and other female members of Parliament, must also be condemned by all parties and the State, with further action to be taken.
Grey says they condemn the violence, which includes all forms of aggression, coercion and intimidation against women as political actors, which is one of the most serious hurdles to women’s full and equal political participation.
FWRM Executive Director Nalini Singh says there must be no impunity for violence against women, including within the cyber and virtual space.
Singh says it is unacceptable that Kishore Kumar is allowed to continue making targeted sexist attacks that are discriminatory, abusive and defamatory against women and there have been no repercussions for his action.
She says violence against women is a non-partisan issue and whichever woman he targets, whether a government MP or a member of the opposition, it must be condemned and there must be justice.
Singh says it is equally disturbing to note that Kumar is a high school teacher and that he is allowed into classrooms despite his unethical and misogynistic behaviour.
She says there must be better standards set by the Ministry of Education for educators as they play such a significant role for young people and children.
Police confirm the CID Unit is investigating the complaint filed against Kishore Kumar by Qereqeretabua.
Education Minister, Rosy Akbar has also confirmed that the Human Resources Department is investigating the complaint filed against Kumar by the NFP Youth General Secretary.
Minister for Education, Rosy Akbar has received a complaint by the National Federation Party Youth General Secretary that a teacher in Suva is allegedly behind repeated facebook posts to humiliate NFP parliamentarian, Lenora Qereqeretabua with references to pornography and immorality.
In his official complaint to the Minister for Education, NFP Youth General Secretary, Apenisa Vatuniveivuke says the teacher’s name is Kishore Kumar and he is reliably informed that Kumar is employed by the ministry as a Computer Science Teacher at a school in Suva.
Vatuniveivuke says Kumar has irrefutably referred to Qereqeretabua as a Fly-Style Porn Star. He says these posts have been available on Facebook, a public forum, for months.
He says his concern is whether the Ministry of Education is aware of these incidences and why no action has been taken.
The complainant says the public and by extension students, have access to these posts and he has raised the question on what kind of example is the ministry setting for the students.
When questioned by fijivillage, Rosy Akbar says allegations against teachers are referred to the Human Resources Department to investigate. She says this complaint has been referred to HR as well.
Qereqeretabua says Kumar’s allegations are false, and it is clear the online bullying is to intimidate her. However she says she is undeterred by these false claims.
Qereqeretabua says she will fight on and she is also thankful to many people who continue to defend her.
Police confirm that Qereqeretabua had lodged a report with the CID and it is currently under investigation.
The complaint was filed in August.
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