TWO prison wardens were suspended following a mass breakout by 10 prisoners from the Naboro Prison complex.

An article published by this newspaper on March 20 of 1996 stated that the Republic of Fiji Military Forces had denied the involvement of soldiers in the hunt for the escapees.

The search for the prisoners, plus the five who were still at large, was staged by a combined police and prison operation.

Prison’s Department spokesman Inoke Kana confirmed two officers from Naboro had been relieved of their duties because they failed to follow in-house procedures which led to the breakout.

Supervisor of Prisons superintendent Isimeli Lagilagi said officers on duty during the prison break had been interviewed.

He said there was evidence of breach of procedures so disciplinary action would be taken against those involved.

But he could not comment on the severity of the disciplinary action.

“There are a lot of matters involved, the physical security, manpower and other things which relate to how the incident occurred,” he said.

“Those involved will be dealt with according to internal proceedings and the commissioner is the one who decides on what action should be taken.”

RFMF spokesman Colonel Savenaca Draunidolo said in a statement that TV One News had given the wrong impression of “the routine exercise” carried out by the soldiers.

“The RFMF personnel implicated were engaged in an entirely different manoeuvre with its own set of objectives,” Colonel Draunidolo said.

Police commissioner Isikia Savua said he was against armed soldiers hunting for prisoners without police consent.

He said as long as he was commissioner, armed soldiers would not be allowed to search for the escaped prisoners, adding that police officers should be allowed to do their work  — being responsible for  internal security — without hindrance.

Mr Savua expressed concern that armed soldiers looking for escapees could set a wrong precedent for civilians who might  have arms in their homes.

He said police did not know about the involvement of armed soldiers in the search and came to know of it from TV One News.

Minister for home affairs Paul Manueli said in Parliament the TV One News team had come across a military recruit training exercise and asked a specific question on how they would react if they came across the armed prisoners. He said the army did not involve itself in internal security matters, unless requested to do so.

TV One news director Jeff Hampton said the news crew came across the soldiers at Colo-i-Suva while filming the area as a possible hideout for prisoners.

He said the crew talked to the solider in-charge who said the army was there to hunt for the prisoners as part of carrying out routine exercises.