Peter Ridgway is an Australian prosecutor and a former Deputy Director of Prosecutions in Fiji who was expelled from the country by the Qarase government in 2005.[1]
As Deputy Director of Prosecutions Ridgeway was responsible for investigating alleged links between members of the government and the 2000 Fijian coup d'état.[2] He strongly criticized the government's early release of coup convicts,[3] and the Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill which he interpreted as a legal mechanism for pardoning individuals convicted of participating in the coup.
Ridgeway's contract expired in May 2005 and was not renewed.[4] Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase subsequently blocked a move to reinstate him,[5] [6] and in June 2005 he was expelled from Fiji on 24 hours notice.[7] [8] Ridgeway subsequently accused the government of interfering with the course of justice by intervening in a number of coup-related trials.
On 31 December 2006, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who had deposed Qarase in a military coup on 5 December, invited Ridgway to return to Fiji to restart his investigations into the 2000 coup.[9] In February 2007 he returned to Fiji to work for the military regime.[10]