God knows that Grubsheet gave Mohammed Saneem a hard time in the lead-up to the last election, dubbing him Dobby the House Elf – Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum‘s elf – after the character in Harry Potter. Even so, I feel sorry for him as he spends the weekend in the Totogo Police Station – held in custody until his court appearance on Monday on a charge of asking for and obtaining a corrupt benefit.
There is something decidedly perverse and vindictive about waiting to charge a man with no prior conviction until late on a Friday so there is no chance of him being put before a court until Monday. They didn’t do it to Frank Bainimarama, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum or Sitiveni Qiliho. So why have they done it to the former supervisor of elections?
Unfortunately this kind of thing just reinforces the negative perception many people have developed about the “new order” in Fiji – a government that is just as bad as its predecessor and in many instances worse. They could have just as easily charged him yesterday or waited until Monday so that he only had to spend one night in police custody like the others. But no, Dobby gets three nights in a police cell waiting to be produced in court.
They really do want him to suffer. And it is a sign of how stupid they are that they can get even an old cynic like Grubsheet – and doubtless many more Fijians – feeling sorry for him. And angry with them for their pettiness.
May the force be with you, Dobby, and help get you through the weekend. And a curse on anyone at Totogo who mistreats you. You might have been a pain in the butt and have cut a preposterous figure on a many occasions but you deserve the presumption of innocence like any accused. And how dumb is this government to turn even an object of ridicule like Dobby into someone who attracts sympathy because of the vindictiveness of those pursuing him.
They really are the pits.
UPDATED MONDAY WITH THE NEWS OF SANEEM’S COURT APPEARANCE:
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Incredibly, while the Fiji Sun reports Mohammed Saneem’s detention, there is nothing at all in Saturday’s Fiji Times. Though as usual, it gives lavish coverage to its pin-up girl, Shamima Ali. The head of the Women’s Crisis Centre gets the whole of page two to complain about Lynda Tabuya not attending a conference in New York plus a separate article dismissing the Prime Minister’s International Women’s Day message as “rhetoric”.
The Fiji Times is the pits too.
MALEKA! Sorry, no pity from me. This snivelling mean spirited suck-up needed a comeuppance!
You must be a”devout” christian. An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind. But what do you care, the shoe is on the on the other foot today. But remember this:
First They Came. By Pastor Martin Niemöller
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
End quote
Shameful. They kept Shaenaz in custody for 2 nights without charge and they’re keeping Saneem for 3, after having charged him on a Friday evening. Absolutely disgraceful.
He was always bossy, arrogant, mouthy, disrespectful to then opposition and other political party’s apart from FFP. He was Aiyaz’s lap dog , so no sympathy for him. He was never a fair SOE but always one sided . You reap what you sow.
As far as his case concerned, am no lawyer but is the case a strong one?? I doubt it because if as an employee one is able to negotiate and get everything then it’s not the employees fault for getting what he/she wants as a total compensation package.
I say he should turn into state witness and throw Aiyaz under the bus.
Just another useless witch hunt.
Where is the acting SOEs report on the glitch anyway.
All this has seen no one in prison.
Wasting taxpayer funds when there is so much poverty in the country and children need help.
But no, they fixed on this unnecessary issue.
Surely he qualified to receive the backpay.