January 31, 1999
Hell in the pacific - Fiji styleCouple's South Seas vacation ends with sex assault, police brutality
The crystal-clear surf splashing onto the unspoiled sandy white beaches is the only sound on this secluded Fijian resort island. The idyllic setting -- only slightly larger than SkyDome and worthy of a Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition photo shoot -- is home to 30 vacation cabins and a staff of 20 to serve the tourists. There's one phone line and no air conditioning to cool down the 40C heat. And it's honeymooners and couples only at this exclusive $500-a-night resort. It's exactly what Alan Goodman and his wife Tania needed -- a real life fantasy island. "We fell in love with it," Tania said. "It's ultimate paradise." But their heaven abruptly turned into a hell that included sexual assault and corruption and even led to a terrifying spell behind bars. Perfection described their first day. But that night Tania felt uncomfortable in the cabin. She thought someone outside was watching her and Alan make love that evening. The next night Tania's fears turned horribly real. The exhausted couple retired to their hut at 11 p.m. Three hours later, both were awake after having nightmares. They fell back asleep in each others' arms. At 5 a.m., Tania woke up to the feeling of someone penetrating her genitals. Assuming it was Alan, she turned over, only to find her husband fast asleep, facing the other direction. She rolled over on her other side and found a naked Fijian man standing at her bedside. She said he was masturbating while sexually assaulting her. Tania screamed. Alan jumped. He saw the naked man dash out of their room. The couple noticed the man's distinctive haircut, like that sported by the island's social convener. Alan grabbed his spear gun from the corner of the room, chased after him, but quickly turned back to be with his wife. Their very real nightmare had only just begun. Brooklyn-born Alan Goodman, 32, walks and talks with a brash New York City style. Goodman, a landed immigrant, and his 25-year-old Oakville-born wife of 31/2 years, Tania, own a successful Mississauga roofing company. For 10 months of the year they work more than 100 hours a week each, often sleeping at the office. They treasure their two months off. Every year they take a dream vacation to get away from the grind and the pressure. This time, plans started taking shape six months before their departure date. From Las Vegas to Hawaii to Fiji, then on to New Zealand and Australia before finally heading for home from the $32,000 two-month trip. The first month was wonderful. When they arrived at Matamanoa on Jan. 15, after a week both on Fiji's main island and afloat on a cruise ship, all signs pointed to more perfection. But they never made it beyond Fiji. At times, they thought they'd never get out of Fiji.
After the assault, the Goodmans searched for help. "Nobody cared," Tania said. "The other two staff people went right back to sleep like nothing happened." They encountered the man they claimed assaulted Tania. He called the idea of an attack "impossible." At one point, he kicked Tania, bruising her leg, the couple says. Spear gun in hand They searched for the resort manager. But she had left the island for the night and didn't come back until after sunrise. She returned to find the Goodmans waiting for her, Alan with his spear gun in hand. The manager asked Alan to put the gun away so it didn't alarm the guests. He complied, and then the three of them talked for three hours about what had happened. More than five hours after the incident, a policeman finally flew in to investigate. The cop did not arrest the Fijian man, despite having the couple identify him. There were fewer than 50 people on the island, and the Goodmans were sure of the culprit. The man's picture is even in the island's promotional material. Shortly afterward, Alan noticed the resort manager, the policeman and the assailant together in the manager's office. "I walked into the office and I see a conspiracy," Alan said. "The manager was telling the police lies." Alan and Tania were taken by boat off Matamanoa Island and back to Nandi, Fiji's main island, by noon. When they arrived, Fiji's scales of justice started to crash down on Alan when he again met with the police officer. "The man from the (cruise ship) wants to speak to you at the police station," the cop told him. The officer told the couple that the cruise ship operator claimed there was a dent in the door of the cabin where they stayed, even though the room passed an inspection when they checked out. "Tell him to come to the hotel to speak to me," an exasperated Alan replied. "My wife's just been sexually assaulted. I want to stay with her." Handcuffed The cop continued to demand he go to the station. Alan refused, and asked again and again: "Am I under arrest for something?" Two more police officers arrived, grabbed and forcefully handcuffed a resisting Alan.
"I won't let them get the handcuffs on me because I don't know if they're taking me to the police station or the back bushes to kill or beat me," Alan said later. Tania captured the entire incident on video. Alan was put in the police van but, fearing for his life, he tried to escape by smashing out the back window of the vehicle with his head. Meanwhile, Tania frantically called the Canadian and U.S. embassies for help. When Tania arrived at the police station, she learned Alan had been arrested for breaking government property -- the window. But why arrest him in the first place, she asked. The police at the station didn't answer, but said for $1,000 Alan would be freed. The figure was reduced to $800 when it appeared she wouldn't pay. "I'm not going to give you $800 and let you screw me and take his passport so we'll never be able to leave this island," she told the cops. Alan claims he was beaten at the station, leaving his arms, legs and torso bloody and bruised. He said police also berated him for not being able to protect his wife from the intruder. He spent the next 24 hours in a Fiji jail -- a muddy, pitch-black, bug-infested dungeon below the police station. The only time Alan was brought out of the cell was when Long Lee, the administrative officer from the American Embassy in Fiji, arrived. Alan was brought upstairs and handcuffed to a pole. Lee asked about the charges, and the police story changed. Lee was told Alan was in jail for the damage caused on the boat. Early Sunday morning, Lee visited Tania at her hotel. "I urged them to get a lawyer and to get out as soon as they can before other complaints or charges were filed against them," Lee said later. Welcome to the judicial system -- Pacific paradise style. A special Sunday session of Fiji court was called to deal with the case of tourist Alan Goodman. He demanded a lawyer, but was denied. The U.S. Embassy tried to help, but couldn't arrange for a lawyer quickly enough. Lee thought he'd only be fined for the boat damage, anyway. Instead, Fiji's system struck again. The list of charges were shocking: Criminal intimidation for threatening the manager of the resort with his spear gun, common assault for the encounter Goodman had with the resort worker he alleges assaulted Tania, plus resisting arrest and damaging government property. Before court, the police prosecutor had a message for Alan. "If you don't plead guilty, I'm going to remand you back in a Fiji prison for 14 days and I'll make sure you're on the waiting list, and it may take eight months before your trial," the prosecutor allegedly said. When reached by The Sunday Sun last week, police prosecutor Livai Gotegote refused to comment on the case. Alan felt cornered. He couldn't stand the thought of leaving Tania alone any more. He couldn't go back to that prison. The fear of never getting off the island was playing on his mind. In court, Alan's arguments fell on deaf ears. The magistrate fined him $1,750 Fijian ($1,500) for damages to the cabin door of the boat and the police van, plus small fines for the threat and assault on Matamanoa. His passport was confiscated until he paid the fine. Alan tried to cry foul, but no one could help. "They take my passport, nobody's pursuing anything that happened to my wife, now they're just extorting us for money," he said in disbelief. Fiji Times reporter Iferimi Nadore had a huge story on his hands. Front page, in fact. A crazy tourist threatening island workers and destroying Fijian property. Under a big picture of the couple leaving court, the headline blared Fine For Berserk Tourist. Nadore's information came from the report the police released and the information he heard in court. Included in his story was a reference to an intruder in their room, but nothing about the sexual assault. Nadore said he didn't have a chance to talk to Alan. He also hadn't heard reports of the police assaulting him, but said that wouldn't be a surprise. "There's been a lot of cases of police brutality," Nadore said. "It's a major problem here. They've called for the setting up of a police complaints department, that's how bad it is." Alan's claim of corruption in the police department didn't surprise Nadore either. "Recently the commissioner of police was under investigation on allegations of abuse of office, favouritism," Nadore said. "But he was cleared of the charges." 'Really bizarre' When Long Lee of the U.S. Embassy was asked if extortion by Fiji's police was likely, she replied: "Knowing the situation here, I wouldn't discount that." Fiji cops earn $4,000 a year. Both Nadore and Lee are amazed this happened to tourists. "It's really bizarre because tourism is their largest industry in Fiji and they take that seriously," Lee said. Lee didn't know what, if anything, was happening with the investigation into the man who sexually assaulted Tania. "I don't know if because of Mr. Goodman's supposed bizarre behaviour that they discounted his charges against the other man," Lee said. "The police haven't told me anything." And it will be at least three weeks before she could get her hands on any police reports, she said. Why weren't they warned about how risky and exploitative Fiji can be, Alan Goodman asks as he sits in his Mississauga office, Tania by his side. Everyone around them seemed to be in on the alleged scheme of extortion and torture -- the police, the lawyers, the courts, the hotel management. The American Embassy did its best to help. The Canadian Embassy was only able to provide moral support. Amazingly, while sitting at the Sheraton Hotel anxiously awaiting their flight out of Fiji, a New Zealand woman entered the hotel, crying, saying she'd been assaulted. The Goodmans videotaped a deposition of the woman describing how she, too, was sexually assaulted while on the beach. No one had told any of them of the potential trouble in this tiny, developing country of 800,000. By the time they'd left, the trip had cost them thousands of extra dollars, and the Goodmans didn't even clear the halfway point of their planned vacation. "I didn't care about the money, though," Alan said. "I just wanted to get my wife out of there." Since the assault, the Goodmans say they've hardly slept in the past two weeks. The nightmares are so bad Tania is seeking psychiatric help. They've also hired lawyers in Toronto and Fiji in an attempt to clear Alan's name. The Goodmans are telling their story so other travellers can learn from their own personal fright show. "I just want people to know it's not a safe country to go to," Alan said. Record rainfall While representatives of Fiji travel services in Canada couldn't be reached for comment, Long Lee said the trouble in Fiji is similar to problems posed in other developing countries where she's worked. A spokesman with the Fiji Visitor Bureau downplayed the incident, saying there are few sex assaults on the island. "It's a safe place to travel." There's another wrinkle in this story. Before the Goodmans left the island, record rainfall caused the worst flooding Fiji has ever seen. The court house and the police station were badly damaged. Alan Goodman called it payback to the island for what had happened to him. Or paradise lost.
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