Fiji Police Chief refuses to resign

Fiji's police commissioner believes he was the victim of a premeditated campaign of military intimidation that forced him to flee the troubled Pacific nation.

Speaking in Cairns as fears of a coup mounted in Fiji, Australian Andrew Hughes told of the pressure applied on him and his family by the Fijian military under the guidance of Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

The military chief has been demanding Mr Hughes' sacking since police launched a sedition investigation against Commodore Bainimarama, who has threatened to overthrow the government.

But the defiant Mr Hughes, who flew out of Fiji on Tuesday "on leave" following the threats, is refusing to resign his post.

"My loyalty is to the constitution of Fiji and the rule of law. Not to the government. Whenever that's intact I've got a job to do," he told reporters in Cairns.

Mr Hughes vowed he would only return to Fiji if a democratically elected government was in power.

"It's a volatile situation and we'll just have to see," he said.

"I'm not going to go back there to get arrested and I'm not going to go back there to work for an unlawful government."