A New Zealand man spent a "wretched" night in a Fijian prison cell after frightened locals and police raided his Freemasons meeting on suspicion of witchcraft and sorcery.
The man, who did not want to be named, blamed "dopey village people" for the raid that resulted in 14 members of the Freemason's Lodge of Lautoka herded into police cars and jailed for the night.
Police also seized lodge paraphernalia, including a skull.
The man said the group was warned that, under Fiji's Emergency Decree, they could be jailed for 48 hours without charge.
The group's lodge secretary showed police a copy of their meeting permit, but was told that was not the problem.
At 8.30am on Wednesday, an officer let them go, saying the prime minister's office had ordered they be released.
Fijian Western Region police information officer Wame Bautolu denied the group had a permit.
