Neumi Leweni is a

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

an former soldier, diplomat, and civil servant, who served as spokesperson for the

Republic of Fiji Military Forces The Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF, formerly the Royal Fiji Military Forces until 1987 when the Dominion of Fiji was overthrown) is the military force of the Pacific Ocean, Pacific island nation of Fiji. With a total manpower of about ...

and the military regime during the

2006 Fijian coup d'état The Fijian coup d'état of December 2006 was a coup d'état in Fiji carried out by Commodore (rank), Commodore Frank Bainimarama against Prime Minister of Fiji, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and President Josefa Iloilo. It was the culminatio ...

. In 2006 Leweni was one of two official spokesmen for the Military, the other being Lieutenant Colonel

Orisi Rabukawaqa Orisi Rabukawaqa is a Fijian career soldier. By early 2006, he held the rank of lieutenant colonel and was one of two official spokesmen for the Military, the other being Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Ac ...

. Like other senior Military officers, Leweni was particularly outspoken in his opposition to certain policies and decisions of the Qarase government, including the early release from prison of persons convicted of offences relating to the

2000 Fijian coup d'état The 2000 Fijian coup d'état was a civilian coup d'état by an armed group of indigenous Fijian nationalists supported by the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit, against the elected government of Indo-Fijian Prime Minister Mahendra Chau ...

. He also took a vocal stand against the government's Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, which proposed to establish a Commission to compensate victims and pardon perpetrators of the coup. This, said Leweni, would undermine the

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

and the integrity of the Military, as the Army could then be required to readmit soldiers convicted of

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military or a crew) to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term is commonly used for insubordination by members of the military against an officer or superior, ...

. In August 2007, he resigned to take up a diplomatic post, as

Military attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

but has since rejoined the Military and returned from his diplomatic posting to serve with the RFMF. In January 2010 Fiji's military regime attempted to appoint him as high commissioner to New Zealand, but the appointment was rejected by the New Zealand government. In 2016, he was appointed Chief Protocol Officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was suspended in May 2018 pending investigation into an alleged visa scam. In 2019 Leweni acted as a consultant for controversial property development company Freesoul.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leweni, Neumi 1957 births Living people People from Lau Province Fijian diplomats Fijian soldiers I-Taukei Fijian people Fijian expatriates in China