Peter Ridgway is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n prosecutor

Prosecutor

The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...

 and a former Deputy Director of Prosecutions in Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

.

Ridgway resigned on 3 May 2005 and was expelled from Fiji on 22 June http://www.fijivillage.com/artman/publish/article_20900.shtml by the government of then-Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Fiji

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji is the head of government of Fiji. The Prime Minister was appointed by the President under the terms of the now-suspended 1997 constitution....

 Laisenia Qarase

Laisenia Qarase

Laisenia Qarase is a Fijian political figure. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qarase joined the Interim Military Government as a financial adviser on 9 June 2000, until his appointment...

, while investigating

Investigations since the Fiji coup of 2000

A number of separate, but overlapping, investigations have been conducted by the police into various aspects of the 2000 coup. Some of these investigations are ongoing. These investigations include the organization and financing of the coup, and the identity of the perpetrators...

 alleged links between members of the government and the coup of 2000. The resignation and expulsion came after Ridgway had strongly criticized controversial government legislation

Reconciliation and Unity Commission (Fiji)

The Reconciliation and Unity Commission is a proposed government body to be set up if the Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, which was introduced into the Fijian Parliament on 4 May 2005 is passed...

 which he interpreted as a legal mechanism for pardoning individuals convicted of participating in the coup. http://www.fijivillage.com/artman/publish/article_20981.shtml Following his dismissal and deportation, he accused the government of interfering with the course of justice by intervening in a number of coup-related trials, http://www.fijivillage.com/artman/publish/article_20954.shtml a reason he had given for his resignation.

On 31 December 2006, Commodore

Commodore (rank)

Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...

 Frank Bainimarama

Frank Bainimarama

Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, CF, MSD, OStJ, Fijian Navy, known commonly as Frank Bainimarama and sometimes by the chiefly title Ratu , is a Fijian naval officer and politician. He is the Commander of the Fijian Military Forces and, as of April 2009, Prime Minister...

, who had deposed Qarase in a military coup

2006 Fijian coup d'état

The Fijian coup d'état of December 2006 occurred as a continuation of the pressure which had been building since the military unrest of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état and 2005-2006 Fijian political crisis....

on 5 December, invited Ridgway to return to Fiji to restart his investigations into the 2000 coup. http://www.fijilive.com/news/show/news/2006/12/31/31fijilive04.html On 12 January 2007, Ridgway said he was considering the offer. http://www.fijivillage.com/artman/publish/article_35075.shtml