RFMF ordered to pay for stray bullet

The Fiji Military Forces has been ordered to pay over $168,000 in compensation to a civilian who was injured by a stray bullet during the height of the attempted mutiny in November 2000.

Almost nine years since the event, 44-year-old Samabula resident, James Pillay was this morning awarded costs for pain and suffering, loss of future earnings, cost of future care and special damages by Judge Justice Filimoni Jitoko after a ruling had earlier found the RFMF responsible for the incident.

Pillay was standing outside his home in Samabula, three miles away from the Queen Elizabeth Barracks, when a stray bullet fired during the height of the standoff between the CRW soldiers and members of the RFMF hit him in the stomach.

Despite several operations, the bullet remains embedded in his stomach.