Martha Hunter, the wife of deported Fiji Sun publisher Russell Hunter, left for Australia this morning with their daughter.

Hunter was taken from his Ragg Avenue home in Tamavua Monday night (February 25) by seven men claiming to be immigration officials before being deported early Tuesday morning (February 26).

Martha and her daughter Rhianna were given 21 days by the Immigration department to leave the country. They were seen this morning at the Nadi International Airport bound for Australia.

Meanwhile, Hunter told Fijilive that he was still awaiting an official explanation from the department on why he was deported.

An official statement issued by the Immigration department soon after the deportation that Hunter was a prohibited immigrant who had breached conditions of his work visa here in Fiji.

However, it is believed that Hunter was deported because of a series of articles the newspaper had published on allegations of tax evasion levelled against interim Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry.

Asked whether he had resigned from the Fiji Sun newspaper as chief executive officer and publisher, Hunter said: “I’m still CEO of the Sun. There are no plans to hand over”.

Hunter’s lawyer Suruj Sharma has filed legal papers challenging the deportation despite the issuance of an injunction preventing Hunter’s deportation.

The case has been adjourned to April 18 for mention.